In the three years before launch date I eliminated as much of the analog mail that I received as possible. I was already moving apartments once a year and was tired of filling in the address change forms. I lived in New York City and despite the best efforts of the USPS (who I have enormous respect for) mail would routinely go amiss. Of the modest amount of mail that I received a predictably high percentage was of no interest or contained information that I could source elsewhere – but I still need a place for replacement credit cards to land.
There are a range of options when it comes to receiving and handling mail. One is called ‘Mum’, but I would not ask a family member or friend to deal with this admin task for me (plus I did not want them to see the bill collection notices). Some of the best options came about because of the needs of the original US nomads – people living in recreational vehicles, moving around the country. Services such MyRVMail offer mail receipt, scanning of documents, forwarding of specific pieces as requested. In some cases they offer an actual ‘home address’ that can be can be used when establishing residency. The service can get rather spendy but will work well for travelers who expect to need to see analog mail contents in a timely manner.
I am in no hurry to see my mail, usually visiting my box three times a year. To date I have not missed any IRS summons, live lobsters, or limited time lottery winning notifications. I use a UPS storefront service. This is superior to a USPS P.O. Box in a number of ways. Significantly the staff can sign for and receive FedEx and other express deliveries. Also importantly, that address of the box reads like a residential address. My credit card issuers believe this to be an apartment. This is important since they want to have a residence address on file. In addition mailers like UPS and Amazon will not deliver to a P.O. Box.
In a pinch (once per year) I have called the store and asked them to forward a piece to me, which they have been glad to do.
As with many other preparations for travel, set this up well in advance, preferably a year and a half ahead. That way you can see many monthly mail cycles, update addresses to services that you forgot that you had, and check that communications on annual mailing cycles (like tax notifications) are going to the correct place.
One last trick – you can use your mailbox as a mini storage space. Mail yourself a spare set of keys (bike lock key, storage locker key). That way you do not have to carry them around the world, and there are safe for when you need them.