The Long and Winding Road
Photographs are a natural prop to help us tell the stories of our travel adventures to others. Whether we are recalling our great journeys over a coffee or a glass of wine, or whether we are posting them online, a set of pictures makes it easier for us to find the words that describe what it was about a place that was so memorable.
To ourselves however, a photo may not be the most evocative stimulus for those special moments. Sometimes music can play that part more powerfully than any image, for with music we create the image ourselves, and the only limits of the colour, the intensity and the panoramic breadth of that image is our own imagination. The accuracy is not even so important as the strength of the emotions that are recalled.
Recently I took part in a radio programme for a local station where I was asked to choose 14 tracks that would act as a soundtrack for the story of my life. I chose to focus on travel and how it has shaped my life, and found it easy to link music with certain places and times.
For example, whenever I hear Fleetwood Mac I always think back to a bus journey back to Cusco, having completed the Inca Trail. It was a feeling of elation, at having finished the trail, at having spent two days at the ruins of Machu Picchu, and at the prospect of a hot shower.
Similarly if I hear The Long and Winding Road by the Beatles, my mind instantly takes me back to Inter-Rail days, to an early morning train ride through northern Norway. The light was low due to a morning mist, there was nothing but pine forest and lakes for scenery, and as the train made a series of gentle curves, I pressed my face against the window and could see the track ahead of us stretching out for miles ahead.That was over 22 years ago, but the image is still as vivid as ever.
And as for Rod Stewart, I will forever be taken back to a bar in a remote swamp in Malawi, where we arrived just before sunset on a typically hot and sticky day, and to the surreal accompaniment of Mr Stewart we sank a few too many beers and had a night to remember.
Having the opportunity to list these songs was a great opportunity for nostalgia, and I can now play the resulting CD and instantly put myself in the mood for travelling. Each track puts me instantly in a time and place of happy memories.
What would you put on your travel music mix?
“Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton was playing on the headphones on a helicopter ride of Hawaii and “Changes in Latitude” by Jimmy Buffett when I need to get warm in the winter.
Abba “Dancing Queen” – Bhutan. This is very surreal, but that’s what was playing on the local radio when we were driving from Paro to Haa Valley.
Sahara Hotnights “Cheek to Cheek” – Swedish Lappland. Listened to this song over and over (it was the only one that a certain 3 year old liked) during a road trip to Kiruna.
I’m sure there’s more but these two immediately came to my mind.
Amélie soundtrack – Highlands. I had just downloaded the soundtrack before I left for my four-week backpacking trip through Scotland. It was so freaking cold (in August!), I still get goosebumps when I listen to the songs.
Thanks for the memories. ABBA and Bhutan don’t seem to go together, but maybe that’s why it stays in the mind. That reminds me of one I missed earlier – Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, in a very fast car from El Calafate to Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina. Not fond of the song, but it takes me straight back to that driver who tore up the highway.
This is so difficult for me to decide on a few songs that remind me of times when i was traveling because there are so many songs to this day that I listen to and they make me feel like I’m right back where I was when I first heard those songs. I could say “Montauk” by Bayside flying out to Europe for my first time, the album Living in America by the Sounds takes me back to Paris, the album A Poet’s Life by Tim Armstrong sends me to Rome, and listening now to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago reminds me of the struggle I had when I returned from a four month Study Abroad trip in Spain since I was given the album from a friend two weeks before I left.
Even though I’ve traveled many places in the world, I instantly think of Robbie Williams’ Millennium CD from a time I was lost in downtown Vancouver, BC and driving in circles with my friend Laura.
It’s a very difficult question… Each trip i have made has its own soundtrack and i usually love to listen music that has nothing to do with the place i travel to.
For instance, when i was in India i listen a lot to The Cure, things around look so different with different soundtracks
For a gentle storytelling mood [John Barry's "Let the Rest of the World Go By" from Out of Africa; Johnny Mercer, "Summer Wind"] a great rocking chair spot on a southern verandah to share with my grandchildren tales of a Caribbean Cruise from St. Croix to Curacus and my quest without a passport in a strange and different place, and my safe journey home. [Lex de Azeveda, Oh My Father; Whitley Phipps "He"] A photograph trek with National Geographic contributing photographer to Jordan, Israel and Egypt … and my safe journey home. [Elton John, "Georgia"] And a week in majestic Montreal … stuck in a 14″ blizzard … and my safe journey home. [James Taylor, "Some Children See Him"] Then, the tales of virtual world travels … celebrating a different country’s Christmas for nearly 20 years, [Lou Monte, Dominick the Donkey; Celtic Woman, "You Raise Me Up"; Michael Buble, "My Grown Up Christmas List"] complete with cuisine and tree decor … and our safe journey together, at home. Out there is dreamland is to cruise the Mediterrean or scout about the farm country of France and Italy. [George Fenton, "Goonight Dear Void" from You've Got Mail soundtrack; Mary Beth Carlson, "I Will Remember You"] … and a safe journey home with more tales to tell. After all, life is a wonderful journey, hopeful for a safe journey home. [George Burn and Bobby Vinton, "If You're at Heart"; Main Feather Theme, Forrest Gump soundtrack]
I collect ‘travel’ songs that have meaning to me. Some that remind me of how great it is to travel and some on how great it is to return home.
http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/traveling-tunes/
Some classic tracks on there Sherry. During our time in Laos recently we spent many days on the Mekong, and I just couldn’t get ‘Yellow River’ by Christie out of my head. We got to Luang Prabang, sat down for a meal in a restaurant, and guess what was playing? Yup. It’s now stuck in my head for ever.