Daily printout: Nov. 13, 2025

Condé Nast Traveler magazine recently published its list of international Post Offices so unusual they’ve become tourist attractions in their own right. Not surprisingly, two of these postal landmarks are in the United States.

The Supai, AZ, Post Office at the bottom of the Grand Canyon receives mail by mule. Six days a week, 10 to 22 mules carry mail, food and supplies along a 9-mile trail, which takes roughly 3 hours downhill and 5 hours back up.

Postcards and letters from Supai receive a special “mailed by mule” cancellation. It is the last mail-by-mule route in the country.

The Hoolehua Post Office on Molokai in Hawaii is famous for its “post-a-nut” service. Visitors are encouraged to decorate and ship coconuts, which are plentiful and free of charge. Markers and art supplies are also free. The only cost is for shipping, which ranges from $13-$20. The program has mailed tens of thousands of coconuts since 1991.

Other noteworthy Post Offices include:

• Antarctica — southernmost Post Office. Port Lockroy on Goudier Island is staffed by a few postal clerks amid a colony of more than 3,000 gentoo penguins. About 70,000 postcards are mailed annually, with delivery times ranging from two weeks to a year.

• Norway — northernmost Post Office. Ny-Ålesund is located deep inside the Arctic Circle on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, one of the most extreme, windswept places on the planet. The settlement is also the northernmost permanent town and year-round station, with just a few dozen scientists and researchers.

• Vanuatu — the only underwater Post Office. This office lies 10 feet below the sea off Hideaway Island, part the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean. Divers and snorkelers purchase waterproof postcards and stamps on land, then swim 150 feet offshore to drop them in the submerged mailbox. Employees use special embossed cancellations instead of ink. About 100,000 visitors send mail here each year.

• China — the highest Post Office. The Tibetan Paradise Post Office sits at the north base camp of Mount Everest, around 16,730 feet above sea level. Visitors must bring oxygen and battle the cold, but the payoff is a postcard stamped from earth’s highest elevation.

• Slovenia — a rare Post Office in a cave. This underground office is set among the stalagmites and crystalline formations of the Postojna Cave, which stretches 15 miles and is more than 2 million years old. In operation since 1899, the facility has received more than 40 million visitors.

Condé Nast Traveler’s complete list is available on the magazine’s website. 

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The Postal Inspection Service will begin its “Cut Out Crime” holiday campaign on Thursday, Nov. 13.

The campaign will offer tips for customers to keep their holiday purchases and personal information safe and aims to combat stolen mail and packages; phishing and smishing scams; and brushing and quishing schemes.

The agency offers these tips for employees and customers:

• Don’t provide personal information to unknown sources;

• Always be suspicious of text messages or emails that request personal or business information;

• Ignore unexpected or unsolicited text messages or emails, and do not click on links in those messages;

• Don’t scan unknown QR codes;

• Avoid leaving letters and packages in their mailbox or at their door for any length of time;

• Don’t send cash in the mail; and

• Request signature confirmation on packages and add package tracking.

Customers can ask a trusted neighbor to pick up their mail and packages, or use the Postal Service’s Hold Mail service, Hold for Pickup service or a delivery locker.

Customers are also encouraged to save doorbell camera recordings of anyone stealing U.S. Mail and contact the Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 or uspis.gov/report.

Postal Service employees and contractors should forward any suspicious emails received on USPS-issued devices to the Inspection Service. Suspicious text messages can be sent to 7726.

The Inspection Service’s Cut Out Crime website has more information.

To help Postal Service employees compare health plans during this year’s open season, the organization offers access to Checkbook’s Guide to PSHB Plans.

The online guide has information about all plans available through the new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program.

Employees can use the comparison tool to find the right health plan for themselves and their dependents. It includes information on Medicare, copays, deductibles, prescription drug costs and whether dental and vision benefits are included in specific health plans.

USPS provides free access to this guide for all employees and retirees.

Employees can access the guide through the MyHR website’s open season page.

Open season, the annual period when employees can change their health coverage or enroll in a new plan, will conclude Monday, Dec. 8.