WHAT IS
DEAR STRANGER?
I started writing Dear Stranger letters during lockdown in Melbourne. I was depressed, broke, and felt invisible in a city that didn’t seem to want me. Writing was the only thing that kept me upright. so I walked the streets with a biro and a broken heart, taping letters to lamp posts, writing messages I wanted to believe, hoping someone might stop and read them.
They weren’t meant to go viral.
They were cries for connection.
Little handwritten lifelines thrown into the world.
Since then, the project has taken me all around the world, from Melbourne to Manchester, Cairo to Tangier, Brussels to Berlin, led not by plans, but by people.
Curious souls.
Hopeful wanderers.
Strangers who stopped to read.
DEAR STRANGER
EUROPEAN TOUR
My Dear Stranger journey through Europe began in Brussels, Belgium. On a rainy day when the sun didn’t shine, I posted a letter on a tree beside a bus stop.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, English wasn’t the first language, but to my surprise, that letter sent a ripple through the city. Stranger after stranger started messaging me, asking for more. So I did more. And I’ve never looked back.
If it weren’t for Brussels, these letters wouldn’t have gone as far as they have. Sure, the project began in Melbourne, Australia during the pandemic, but it was the people of Brussels who made me believe in it. They showed me it mattered. They gave it legs.
They inspired me to take it on the road — to tour through Europe and paste hope across as many cities as possible.
Now, my letters can be found in Amsterdam, Ghent, Leuven, Antwerp, Brussels, Rotterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Manchester, London, Krakow, Tirana, Paris, Bordeaux, Madrid, Cairo, Rabat, and Barcelona.
All thanks to Brussels.
DEAR STRANGER, UK
In early 2024, I packed my car with thousands of Dear Stranger letters and set off alone on a tour across the UK. Over the course of a week, I posted letters in cities, towns, and small villages throughout England and Wales, anywhere I could find a streetlamp or a bin.
One of the highlights of the trip: Helping a shepherd corral sheep with my car somewhere deep in the countryside. Completely unexpected. Completely unforgettable.
So far, I’ve covered a fair stretch of the UK, but the journey has only just begun.
By the end of 2025, I hope to have left a Dear Stranger letter in every major city across England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. One pole, one message, one stranger at a time.
DEAR STRANGER,
LONDON
When I first posted in London, it was a disaster.
The rain beat the crap out of me. The CCTV cameras made me paranoid. I got pulled aside by a guy claiming to be part of a street art gang who told me where I could and couldn’t post. I felt beat, like the city didn’t want me there. But I gave it one more go. Only this time, I came back swinging.
I brought 1,000 Dear Stranger letters and decided I’d post them everywhere, no matter the rules, no matter the weather. In January, when the sun finally came out for a few rare days, I made it my mission.
I posted and posted and posted. 16, sometimes 17-hour days. By 2 a.m. on the third night, I completed my mission. And then… the messages started coming in.
Floods of them. Messages that reminded me that beauty, kindness, and eternal heart-warming hope still live behind the sea of grey-scale frowns.
Now, London is one of Dear Stranger’s favourite cities in the world.
DEAR STRANGER,
NORTH AFRICA
I didn’t know what to expect from Morocco or Egypt when it came to my letters.
I tried writing a few in Arabic, but the tour was so last minute I mostly stuck to English. To my surprise, the letters blew up across the cities. They opened doors I never thought possible, leading me into homes, art galleries, strangers’ cars, and places only reachable through local connection.
Out there, the letters felt less like messages and more like keys.
Not just a way to soothe my burning feet — but a way in.
Cairo was a standout. The responses were so honest and refreshing that I’ll be returning. Over the course of the journey I posted in Rabat, Tangier, and Cairo, each city was equally inspiring. The trip even pulled me close to the ghosts of William Burroughs and Paul Bowles, through conversations with people who once shared space with them.
If I hadn’t posted those letters across Egypt and Morocco, I would’ve missed all of it.
The magic would’ve stayed locked.
RESPONSES
LETTER EXAMPLES
There are over seventy different letters in current circulation to be found in the wild
THE FUTURE OF THIS PROJECT
I hope to expand the project by posting in more places. The dream is to one day be able to fund it sustainably so I can carry on at high-octane-intensity. As of now, I'm having to post in spurts because it's expensive to travel and the supplies aren't cheap. But onwards and upwards we go. All proceeds from my book, Dear Stranger Origins, is going back into the project so I can carry on posting. If you bought one, thank you for supporting the project you wild child.
And most importantly of all, I hope to create a Dear Stranger community around this project to hopefully make concrete jungles littered around the world more welcoming places to roam.
