As I wake up for yet another physics-filled day, I can’t help but fantasize about making a break for it, and running/flying/getting away from all the incredibly hard work… The easy route is always tempting, but it’s never as thrilling (right… RIGHT?! Now is when you convince me this is true…). My creative spirit feels a little like a caged bird, or a plant that flowers in summer but has to be kept in the basement this year. My brain is mush, I’m exhausted, and I’m just about to hit the halfway point in the most intense course I’ve ever taken (and I complained last year? HA!).
View. Sint Maarten. Netherlands Antilles.
But don’t worry! I’m used to dealing with this urge to escape every now and then. It’s in my blood. While I must be patient, I’m so looking forward to getting my time back to play with as I wish. (Only 4 weeks to go!) But just because I’m stuck in physics molasses (don’t get me started on drag forces…), that doesn’t mean my mind has to stay completely still. That’s the thing about wanderlust…
Horse statue. Rome, Italy.
A few years ago, we put together what has now become a pretty out-dated list of “Ultimate Travel Songs.” So, as a pleasant distraction for me and a fun opportunity for you, it is time to refresh this list with new music! I will now request that you — once again — provide me with a list of your CURRENT favorite travel songs. Again, this is not about judging people’s musical sensibilities; it is escapism through sound, wanderlust through music, a chance to get that excited little flutter in your heart that you (I?) get when you realize you’re headed somewhere foreign, and it feels like anything is possible. It’s that feeling on an airplane, when you take out your headphones because the captain announces you’re about to make the descent — the long trip somewhere is over, and you’re almost there. It’s that energy you get when you’re in a car with friends about to pull up to your first beach vacation of the summer and music is blasting through the speakers. It’s that stream of steady sound that accompanies you as you walk to work everyday, contemplating your next vacation, your love life, your hopes and dreams…
Prayers outside a shrine. Tokyo, Japan.
OK ok, you get the idea. Now don’t be shy!
Lantern in Sultan’s bathroom. Topkapi Palace. Istanbul, Turkey.
Please leave, as a comment, a list of 1 to 5 songs (with title and artist) that form the soundtrack for some sort of getaway — whether it is a getaway in your mind while you sit for another day in your sub-zero office chair wondering how to get out, an actual playlist you would play on your way to a perfect beach weekend, or a song that you listen to during a long flight to that new country you’ve been anticipating for years…
Guard outside Topkapi Palace. Istanbul, Turkey.
Once I have a decent list, I will add it to my “Music” tab with YouTube videos for every song. If you don’t do this for yourself, do it for me! I need new music, I need to daydream, and I need TwT to take me away from science, at least for a little while…
Cheers, and THANK YOU!!
Travels with Tavel 
It’s a little cynical of me but I often find myself humming Scummy Man (“just give him half a chance I bet he’ll rob you if he can”) by Arctic Monkeys whenever I’m confronted by a particularly obnoxious tout or blatant rip off merchant. But, as uncool as it is, it’s Las Ketchup’s The Ketchup Song that I most associate with travelling. I’m think it was number one the day we left the UK and we heard it in 15 of the 16 countries we visited during our year away.
Ha! Well, I’m always up for the Arctic Monkeys. And, for what it’s worth, The Ketchup song has a very special place in my heart thanks to a friend who played it constantly when I was in college… I even knew the Ketchup Dance 🙂 Thanks for the contribution!
Hey Tavel…Reporting live from science hell, but I like the brief distraction. My picks would be “El Condor Pasa” for those sweeping South American bus-ride-mountain-vistas (not necessarily the Simon & Garfunkel version – instrumentals are nice too). Another fun one, though it could be longer, is Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Ok…My Master calls. Ciao.
Awe, Science Hell (Population: 2 — you and me, buddy). Thanks for taking the break (I know how few and far between they can be!), and thank you so much for the playlist contributions! I’ll have to check these songs out. I know EXACTLY the bus ride you’re talking about… Looking out the window in my memory right now 🙂 Good luck with the studying. At least Science Hell is temporary… (although it doesn’t feel like it). Cheers, fellow post-bacc.
The last holiday my husband and I went on to the Cotswolds before our daughter was born we listened to Spiro’s albumn Lightbox. It’s kind of instrumental folk but for me it has memories of a cozy winter cottage. It also is a cross between energizing and mesmerizing. Here’s a link: http://www.spiromusic.com/albums.html
I’ll give it a try… Love the idea of a cozy winter cottage. Maybe the music will take me there 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
So “Call Me Maybe” isn’t an appropriate response?
Um love the Black Keys Brother’s album… after that O.A.R./Dispatch are good standbys for driving. Young Giant is a current favorite.
“Call Me Maybe” is ABSOLUTELY allowed on the list, by me personally 🙂 Hehe. Thanks for contributing, Rebecca!! Love the Black Keys songs I know, but should probably explore the album. Thanks again for being a part of the list! See you in Somerville soon….