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As travellers we delight in experiences that delight our senses; to amaze them, challenge them, overwhelm them.

The feel of your boarding pass clutched in your sweaty hand as you board a flight, en route to the next destination.

The sight of bright city lights glimmering on the horizon.

The sweet sounds of a foreign language as it hits your ears for the first time.

The taste of new exotic flavours hitting your tongue. 

The scent of clean hotel rooms and dirty subway carriages.

 

Music is just another of those perfect vessels from which we can derive pleasure and enhance our travel experiences. The only thing better than getting lost in a city is getting lost in the music at the same time.

In every country I’ve ever visited I’ve always had a soundtrack playing in my ears that perfectly complements the vibe of the destination.

Check out my top 10 go-to travel anthems that are always on rotation on my iPod whenever I’m on another wanderlust mission…

 

Young Blood – The Naked and Famous

My personal travel anthem. I have blasted this through my earphones in every country I’ve visited over the past two years. It never fails to get me pumped for what lays ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…. 

Lyrical love: Can’t help myself but count the flaws / Claw my way out through these walls / One temporary escape / Feel it start to permeate

Crank this: As you’re running through a crowded airport passport in hand, backpack locked and loaded, racing to make your flight.

Play again just after takeoff. Oh, and just before landing.

 

Hey Girl, Hey Boy – The Chemical Brothers

Lyrical love: Hey girls / Hey boys / Superstar DJs / Here we go!

Crank this: You’re about to jump out of a helicopter over the Swiss Alps. You’re getting ready to dive with tiger sharks in Fiji. Actually, anytime you need to psych yourself up for something that borders on crazy this is your tune. Best played at ear-splitting volumes.

Turn. It. Up.

 

Dirty Paws – Of Monsters and Men

Lyrical love: Jumping up and down the floor / My head is an animal / The dragonfly it ran away / But it came back with a story to say.

Crank this: When hiking through a snow-dripped forest in Iceland. Standing on the Great Wall of China. While watching the Northern Lights in Canada. Walking the streets of New York City at 1am, heading towards the dazzling lights of Times Square. Anytime you are having one of those ‘this is a great adventure’ moments that take your breath away.

 

Budapest – George Ezra

Lyrical love: My friends and family / They don’t understand / They fear they’d lose so much / If you took my hand / But, for you / You / I’d lose it all.

Crank this: On long train rides between destinations. While sitting around a campfire/hostel table sharing a bottle of wine with strangers. Or, when walking around Budapest. It’s a winner.

 

Shuffle – Bombay Bicycle Club

Lyrical love: Weight is coming off / Soaring high / Pleading you to stay / Come alive

Crank this: While wandering through Camden Markets in London. When skipping down the cobblestone backstreets of Nice, heading towards the Mediterranean Sea for a swim. While dancing on top of a bar in Switzerland with a cute backpacker. Play this happy tune whenever you are feeling that general feeling of euphoria that comes with being free and easy.

 

Running to the Sea – Royksopp

Lyrical love: I remember running to the sea / Remember falling to my knees / I remember gliding off the shores / Until I touched the ocean floor

Crank this: While watching the sunset over the ocean, a chilled beer in hand, as you lay on a beach in Malaysia. When kissing a handsome stranger under the stars on a private beach in the Greek Islands. Just before you go on a dive anywhere – trust me – the references to the ocean (not to mention the banging bass line) are guaranteed to get you pumped for any underwater encounter.

 

Alive – Empire of the Sun

Lyrical love: Loving every minute cause you make me feel so alive, alive…

Crank this: At a beachside dance party in Thailand. While hurling tomatoes at strangers at La Tomatina in Spain. On top of any bar that will have you. Basically, anytime you wanna jump up and down like a maniac, deliriously happy and feeling so damn alive.

 

Horchata – Vampire Weekend

Lyrical love: Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten / Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on / Oh, you had it but, oh no, you lost it / Looking back, you shouldn’t have fought it

Crank this: As you’re getting ready to shred some fresh powder on the best slopes around the world. Having a snowball fight with your mates on the deserted streets of a little town in Canada. Sharing hot chocolate and travel stories in front of a roaring fire with new friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVpdi0bD6NA&list=UUUGzhBmck61sa3eGxp9xI8A

 

TessellateAlt-J

Lyrical love: Toe to toe, back to back, let’s go / My love it’s very late / ‘Til morning comes / Let’s tessellate

Crank this: When gettin’ your sexy on with that hot fellow traveller who caught your eye on the dancefloor, or in the coffee shop, or the train station. Basically, whenever you want to get down and dirty and need to enhance the mood if only for a night. Trust me, it’s hard to make a hostel a sexy setting for some ‘tessellation’ – if you get my drift. 

 

Coming Home, Pt II – Skylar Grey

Lyrical love: Still far away / From where I belong / But it’s always darkest / Before the dawn / I’m coming home / I’m coming home / Tell the world I’m coming home…

Crank this: When boarding the plane that will send you back to where you started though irrevocably changed from your travel experiences.

As you can see the first slivers of your home over the horizon. As you walk out of customs and into the arms of those you love.

Welcome home.

 

Check out Shanny’s full playlist here:

 

Featured image by no lurvin here.

About the author

Shanny MattersonShanny Matterson wants to live in a world where plane tickets are cheap, visas never expire, hangovers don’t exist, and the next adventure is always just around the corner. Aussie freelance travel writer + wanderlust copywriter + travel photographer currently stranded on a tropical island in the South Pacific. Follow her adventures + work with her at rebelandroam.com

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