Hello!

I am new to this whole thing. I have always wanted a pen-pal. I used to have one when I was younger but it fizzled out. After watching a documentary on long-term prisoners and how lonely they can get, I thought, why not write to a prisoner who clearly needs a pen-pal? At first I was cautious and looked around on the internet for the best way to go about it. After doing my research for around 2 months I came across this website. It's the best looking and most user friendly of the websites I've found, and the support is here too which is great.

I live in Australia and wanted to get the ball rolling pretty quickly once I had decided to go ahead with it, so I used the e-mail an inmate feature a couple of days ago, and it said it would be sent on the 20th. After reading through this forum I can see that, due to the snail pace of how prison mail moves, along with the fact that I'm in Australia.. I could be waiting up to 2 months for my first reply!

Also, I am NOT looking for anything romantic. I have a boyfriend that I have been with for almost 5 years. This is purely a platonic friendship I am hoping to strike up with someone, male or female. I wrote 4 emails, 2 to each gender.
I stated that I was only looking for friendship as I have a partner. Are they less likely to respond now? I feel it was best for me to state this in my first bit of correspondence as I didn't want to lead anyone on. From the sounds of it, it's quite easy to read into things the wrong way when you've been in prison for a while without much outside contact.

I only wrote to people who said they were willing to correspond overseas. I understand it probably costs them a great deal more to write to people in a different country. I am willing to pay for their postage if they decide to take me on as a pen-pal. Is this ok?

Sorry this is so long! Nice to meet you all anyway

Hi, Welcome......Hope you hear from them soon.

No they arent less likely to respond just because you have told them you have a partner...some people mistake this site for a dating website.Some of them are lonely and do need outside contact. Yes its ok for you to send them postage money just really I wouldnt say a whole lot about that right now because there are some out there who will and can take advantage and give you sob stories about how poor they are in there and they dont get any money from anyone.

Good luck and happy writing

Hello and good luck !!! and don't send money just yet.

thanks I wasn't going to send money yet. I was thinking I'd wait until at least 4 or 5 letters had come and gone before I even brought it up.

Hi and welcome

I write to a number of prisoners from Australia. Guys in USA prisons find Aussies exotic and attractive - as if we are all Nicole Kidman or Hugh Jackman. So you will probably get replies from everyone you write to.
The extra postage is a hassle. I usually offer to send them small amounts to help defray the costs once I have received a response. Remember that it is cheaper to send a letter USA-Australia than to send Australia-USA.

I wish you all the best in this grand adventure.

[QUOTE=Silas Sydenham;1058796Remember that it is cheaper to send a letter USA-Australia than to send Australia-USA.

I wish you all the best in this grand adventure.[/QUOTE]



Is it? how silly.

I have had really good experiences so far with Pen Pals understanding I am married. I honestly think they worry about it more then I do lol. Good Luck on finding a great pen pal, they really do appreciate the letters and correspondence they get from people taking time out and writing them!

Originally Posted by ausjess

thanks I wasn't going to send money yet. I was thinking I'd wait until at least 4 or 5 letters had come and gone before I even brought it up.

thing is... if they tick the box that says willing to write overseas, I like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they understand and can afford that. I guess if they can't they'll let you know.

Welcome! As the others said, I wouldn't offer to send money now. Just wait for the replies,which I'm sure you'll get, and go from there.