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Jonny Beardmore has been travelling the world hand-delivering letters left in an ancient postbox in the Galapagos Islands — on his travels he nearly got arrested and even went to Antarctica
When we drop a letter in a postbox, we relinquish control over its journey, entrusting it to the hands of the postman to reach its destination.
But for one specific letterbox in the Galapagos Islands, there is no postman. Instead, people who put their letters in the postbox rely on the kindness of strangers — and have been doing so for centuries.
Back in October 2022, Jonny Beardmore was on a holiday with his girlfriend on the islands. They sailed around on a boat and were eventually taken to Post Office Bay — the home of a historic postbox. It is less a postbox and more a barrel, located on a spit of land in Floreana Island. People will put their letters inside with the hope that other travellers will pick them up and hand-deliver them to their destinations.
The tradition began back in the late 1700s and 1800s, when British whaling ships used to stop at the island for fresh water. Sailors, often homesick from extended voyages, would then leave letters in the barrel for passing ships to deliver.- Today, tourists continue the tradition by leaving postcards in the barrel, hoping that someone travelling to their destination will pick them up and deliver them.
Looking for a new adventure to raise awareness and funds for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) charities, Jonny set out on the adventure to hand-deliver 55 letters from the postbox to recipients around the world, covering 52 countries in seven continents between March 1, 2024 and March 1, 2025.
“My father survived for eight years with MND/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In that time I couldn’t take on any grand adventures. So I knew I would do something once he passed and some linked to ALS and my father as the inspiration,” he explained. “After Covid, I wanted to get back out there and meet people face-to-face, so in December 2022, I went back to the islands and picked a random selection [of postcards] from across the whole globe.”
Among his 55 letters was a postcard from Antarctica, meaning the have-a-go postie had to traipse all the way down to the frozen continent to complete his quest. Jonny also documented his travels on social media, sharing the heartfelt stories of the letters he was delivering and providing an interactive map so his followers can track him on his journey around the world.
Amongst the cards to friends and family was one that stood out — a love letter. “It just said, ‘no matter what happens between us, I will love you forever’ and I just thought ‘I’ve got to deliver that, and find out what happened there’,” Jonny explained.
He headed to Belize to deliver the letter and managed to track down the sender. He also found heartbreak. The couple had separated since sending the card, although Jonny was welcomed by both of them and told their story. Once he explained what he was doing, “it gave it legitimacy”, said Jonny of his quest. “They would welcome me into their houses often, and tell me the story of their lives.”
On some occasions, there was a language barrier. For example, when in Mexico, “Uber drivers would help me to help speak Spanish. I had to explain what I was doing using Google Translate on the drive to the sender, and they [the Uber driver] would then often stick around to see what happened.”
The eighth letter was a delivery in Mexico City to a mother from her daughter. “My friend Dolybeth came along to help translate,” Jonny shared. “We struggled to get an answer from the property and had to get neighbours to knock on the door. Eventually, Alex came down to see us. We asked to see Carmen and she said there wasn’t anybody by that name.
“Eventually we showed her the letter and everything changed and she recognised it. Alex wrote it to her mum to thank her for telling her to stay in the Galapagos Islands when Carmen had a major fall and needed a hip replacement. The joy between them both was instantly noticeable and they welcomed Dolybeth and me in.
“We had a wonderful evening getting to know each other over Mezcal and dried crickets. So good in fact I accompanied Alex two days later to deliver a letter of her own from the Galapagos to another unsuspecting recipient in Mexico City.”
Not all deliveries were smooth sailing, though. On one occasion in Bergen, Norway, Jonny was nearly arrested after police spotted a mystery object in his pocket that they suspected was a knife. When Jonny pulled out a selfie stick, the officers were understandably apologetic.
Since finishing and celebrating with a charity fundraiser party in London, Jonny has tried to stay in contact with as many of the people he delivered to as possible. “Of the 55, I would say I have contact details for 48 or 49 of them,” he shared. “For the party, for example, people came from Central America, Northern America, Europe, Iceland and Dublin, just for that party.”
Looking back on his adventure, Jonny wants to emphasise two things — “first and foremost [I want] to help raise awareness for people affected by ALS/MND and help raise funds to help research into a cure and secondly, [I want to] encourage people to reconnect in person with a friend they may have lost touch.”