The Responses

As for Thursday, 22 June 2021, the letter which has taken the longest to return is that of Pitcairn; the round trip at the time of its return was 664 days (despite being franked on 15 November 2020).

Territory	Post Address	Letter Mailed	Letter Returned	Days Elapsed	Note
Akrotiri and Dhekelia	12345678 LCPL B Jones B Company 1 Loamshire Regt Dhekelia BFPO 58 GB United Kingdom	8/28/2019	11/13/2019	77
Akrotiri and Dhekelia	12345678 LCPL B Jones B Company 1 Loamshire Regt Dhekelia BFPO 58 GB United Kingdom	8/28/2019	1/3/2020	128
Anguilla	N. Guem 27 Back St The Valley 2640 Anguilla	8/28/2019	11/29/2019	93
Bermuda	N. Guem 27 Back St Hamilton HM 12 Bermuda	8/28/2019	10/25/2019	58
British Antarctic Territory	N. Guem Port Lockroy Goudier Island BIQQ 1ZZ British Antarctic Territory	8/28/2019	7/2/2020	309
British Antarctic Territory	N. Guem UKAHT – Port Lockroy c/o Stanley Post Office Stanley Falkland Islands F1QQ 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean	8/28/2019	2/4/2020	160
British Indian Ocean Territory	12345678 LR B Jones NP 1002 Diego Garcia (BIOT) BFPO 485 GB United Kingdom	8/28/2019
British Indian Ocean Territory	12345678 LR B Jones NP 1002 Diego Garcia (BIOT) BF1 4TG GB United Kingdom	8/28/2019
British Indian Ocean Territory	N. Guem 27 Back St Diego Garcia BBND 1ZZ British Indian Ocean Territory	8/28/2019	11/23/2019	87
British Indian Ocean Territory	N. Guem 27 Back St Diego Garcia British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago Indian Ocean (via Singapore)	8/28/2019	12/5/2019	99
British Indian Ocean Territory	N. Guem DIEGO GARCIA c/o Sure (Diego Garcia) Limited 3 Shenton Way Unit # 02-01 Shenton House Singapore 068805 SINGAPORE	9/10/2019			orig sent 8/28/2019, usps returned 9/09/2019 due to damage (9/06); 12 days rrt. resent.
British Indian Ocean Territory	N. Guem DIEGO GARCIA c/o Sure (Diego Garcia) Limited PSC 466 Box No. 59 FPO-AP 96595-0059 USA	8/28/2019
British Indian Ocean Territory	N. Guem 27 National Highway BBND 1ZZ Three Brothers British Indian Ocean Territory	7/29/2019	12/21/2019	145
British Virgin Islands	N. Guem 27 Back St Road Town, Tortola, VG1110 British Virgin Islands	8/28/2019
Cayman Islands	N. Guem 27 Back St George Town Grand Cayman KY1-1010 Cayman Islands	8/28/2019	9/16/2019	19
Falkland Islands	N. Guem 27 Front St Stanley FIQQ 1ZZ Falkland Islands	8/28/2019	11/7/2019	71
Gibraltar	N. Guem 2-7 Back Square Gibraltar GX11 1AA Gibraltar	8/28/2019	10/24/2019	57
Montserrat	N. Guem Back Point Road Brades, MSR1310 Montserrat	8/28/2019	12/5/2020	465
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands	N. Guem 27 Back St Adamstown PCRN 1ZZ Pitcairn Island	8/28/2019	6/22/2021	664
Saint Helena	N. Guem 27 Back St Jamestown STHL 1ZZ Saint Helena	8/28/2019
Saint Helena	N. Guem 27 Back St, Jamestown Saint Helena STHL 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean	8/28/2019
Ascension Island	N. Guem 27 Back St Georgetown ASCN 1ZZ Ascension	8/28/2019	9/10/2019	13	usps return mark: 9/06/2019 never left usa
Ascension Island	N. Guem 27 Back St Georgetown, Ascension ASCN 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean	8/28/2019
Tristan da Cunha	N. Guem 27 Back St Edinburgh of the Seven Seas TDCU 1ZZ Tristan da Cunha	8/28/2019	2/29/2020	185
Tristan da Cunha	N. Guem 27 Back St Edinburgh Tristan da Cunha TDCU 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean	8/28/2019	1/26/2020	151
Tristan da Cunha (Inaccessible Island)	Mssrs Gustav and Frederick Stoltenhoff Port David Inaccessible Island TDCU 1ZZ Tristan da Cunha	8/28/2019
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	N. Guem 27 Back St King Edward Point SIQQ 1ZZ South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	8/28/2019	9/10/2019	13	usps return mark: 9/06/2019 never left usa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	Nin Guem King Edward Point Research Station British Antarctic Survey Stanley Falkland Islands FIQQ 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean	8/28/2019	1/27/2020	152
Turks and Caicos Islands	N. Guem 27 Back St Cockburn Town TKCA 1ZZ Turks and Caicos Islands	8/28/2019

Thirteen days after their initial dispatch, I received the letters sent to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Ascension Island back on 10 September 2019.

I was expecting the letter to South Georgia to return since the USPS does not have this territory on its list of countries to which it dispatches mail. The letter to Ascension return is odd. However, I did address a second letter with the country “South Atlantic Ocean” as suggested by postal authorities. I’ll write to the Ascension Government to see what they say. For South Georgia, I addressed a second letter to “South Atlantic Ocean” via the Falklands per a suggestion by the British Antarctic Survey. I’ll write the South Georgia Government, too – although pretty much all their answers to any question is no.

Looking at the cancellation mark and yellow tape, I am guessing all my mail was processed my local post office on 28 August, forwarded to the regional processing center on or about 29 August, and there were processed on 6 September.

Let’s hope there are no more returns – although I haven’t gotten my British Antarctic Territory nor British Indian Ocean Territory letters back – these are not on the list.

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The yellow tape has an obscure code on it, beginning with NIXIE. The label itself was created by the automated Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS); the term is an artifact of an old post office term for mail that is undeliverable as addressed. It comes from German “nix” or “not.” In the past, the USPS had “Nixie clerks” who would research where misaddressed mail ought to go – in the case of South George, the answer is obvious, back to the sender.

• 

Once again, another USPS mail handling error. When you receive an envelope like this, it means mail was somehow mangled in transit. Upon opening the envelope, inside I found an empty envelope that was destined for British Indian Ocean Territory via Singapore.

Whomever rescued my letter wrote a kind note reminding me to seal my envelopes before sending – that really made my day.

USPS’ message inside taped to the envelope noted the handling error was dated 6 September 2019, and the letter reached me on 9 September 2019. Nevertheless, since the stamp was not canceled, I printed out a new onion-skin letter, sealed the envelope with tape, and sent it back on its way on 10 September 2019.

The first letter to return was addressed to Bermuda! It arrived on 30 August 2019, two days after the initial dispatch. However, this return was due to USPS’ scanning machine mistaking the return address for the destination address. This happens from time to time with my mail.

I deposited the letter at my local post office mail drop per Post Office rules on how to handle misdelivered mail on Tuesday, 2 September. I have not seen it since.

I took a short walk to USPS station at 179 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and got there right after opening at 10:00 am Eastern. The lobby was relatively clear and in a matter of minutes, I had a couple of sheets of stamps in hand. After a few minutes more, I deposited my stack of letters.

The first letter in the box was one addressed to Pitcairn and the last was to Inaccessible Island off the coast of Tristan da Cunha. I’ll bet either of these two will be the last to return. The first should be Bermuda since it is ight off the United States Eastern Seaboard.

I placed an order for stamps with the BIOT Post Office on 27 July 2019. My order was honored and I received it on 27 August 2019 – thirty days return trip time. This means, perhaps sixty for misaddressed mail. Excitement!

The nice stamp I ordered: