I am all for retiring letterboxes. I have retired several of my
boxes. And I have gotten negative feedback about it! But I will
continue to retire them.

I tried to recall my Alfred Hitchcock hitchhiker. But the people who
had him would not tell me where they placed him. They put him in a
letterbox somewhere and now he is missing, probably never to be
found again. It makes me crazy, because I was begging these people
to mail him home to me.
I wanted to have the stamp and see the logbook with all his travels.
But these people thought they knew better. They thought the
hitchhiker should continue to travel. Even though I was the original
carver and creator of the hitchhiker, they did not respect my
wishes.

I have also heard from people who want me to replace letterboxes
that I have retired. I tell them that if they want a letterbox to be
in that location, then perhaps they should plant one themselves!

--amanda from seattle