Music and travel go hand in hand. Both transport you to faraway places, can have vastly different meanings to different people, are deeply personal, and both incredibly important. Here I’ve compiled a list of my personal favourites – a combination of songs that remind me of the best days, songs which really hit home about the reasons why we travel, and songs which make me want to up and leave my current (boring, dissertation-filled) life, in favour of jumping on a plane to everywhere.
Ellie is one of our UK Brand Ambassadors for STA and is out and about promoting travel deals and events at her University.
Old Pine // Ben Howard
Whenever I hear this song I can’t help but be reminded of summer. Any summer. Beach, sun, sea, sand. Picture the coast of Australia, driving down the Great Ocean Road in a campervan, stopping off to sample the surf; barbecues on the beach, salty hair and a sunburnt nose. It’s a tune geared to nostalgia.
Best lyric: ‘The summer shone, beat down on bony backs / So far from home, where the ocean stood down dust and pine cone tracks’.
Born To Run // Bruce Springsteen
A road tripping classic, no list of travel tunes would be complete without a bit of Springsteen. He’s obsessed with the idea of ‘the road’, and so we all should be. People weren’t made to sit around and stagnate in one place, so even if you have no particular place to go, go somewhere for the sake of the journey.
Best lyric: ‘Cos tramps like us / Baby we were born to run’.
Send Me on My Way // Rusted Root
Definitely a song to play when you’re in a slump, I defy anyone who hears this not to cheer up. A real get-up-and-go tune, the addition of the penny whistle is a stroke of genius: it just makes you want to grab your backpack and go hike through some mountains somewhere.
Best lyric: ‘Send me on my way’ (though let’s be honest, a lot of the lyrics in this song are indecipherable).
Strangers // The Emerald Armada
The Emerald Armada are really onto something with ‘Strangers’, a song which sums up the feeling of not wanting to settle down until you’ve explored all there is to explore. Think about all the things you haven’t yet done and that’s a good enough reason to pick a destination and get started!
Best lyric: ‘Well there’s no strangers just some friends I haven’t met yet’. If that doesn’t sum up exactly what staying in a hostel is like, I don’t know what does.
I Don’t Want to Go Home // Nick Mulvey
The title of the song expresses a sentiment every traveler will feel at some point on their trip. Home might always hold a certain appeal, but most of the time you’ll be so busy hiking to the ancient Incan ruins at Machu Picchu or having your breath taken away by the beauty of the Taj Mahal that all you’ll be able to think about is how you want this to carry on forever.
Best lyric: ‘I don’t want to go home / cos I’m already home’.
One Day Like This // Elbow
Everyone gets those days when they’re traveling: the days when the fates seems to have collaborated to bring you the perfect weather, the most fun companions, the coolest hostel and the best location. Not every day away is the best, but then you get a day like this and you remember why you set off in the first place. These are the days you’ll think about later when you’re stuck in the library or the office, daydreaming about another adventure.
Best lyric: ‘Throw those curtains wide / One day like a year’d see me right’.
America // Simon & Garfunkel
A melancholy tune about chasing the fabled American dream, for me this is almost what travelling is about. Substitute ‘America’ for any country and you’ve hit the nail on the head: we’re all going elsewhere to look for something authentic. Even if you’re broke and are having to slum it on rickety overnight buses it seems somehow better than settling down and getting overly obsessive over the latest series of House of Cards or spending hours shopping to find the perfect dress.
Best lyric: ‘Laughing on the bus / Playing games with the faces.’ Hands up if you’ve played the inventing background stories for people game before…
When the Night Feels My Song // Bedouin Soundclash
This is another song which evokes being on the move. It reminds me of when you’ve undertaken a physical challenge: walking all day on rough terrain, no breath spare to speak to anyone else, just caught up in your own thoughts. Then it gets to the end of the day and you finally get a chance to sit down and reflect on where you’ve got to and where you’ve come from. And you realise that it’s a pretty beautiful opportunity you’ve had.
Best lyric: ‘Another day is done / say goodbye to the setting sun’.
What’s your favourite travel song? If you liked this list and are keen to hear some more music from around the world, why not check out STA sounds newest tracks at STA Travel Sounds?
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