Traveling Tunes

Everyone needs a good traveling playlist. I know it is not right to tune out the rest of the world (that’s why we travel – to do the opposite), but having some songs to listen to while the plane is landing, the bus is late, or when the scenery needs some background music never hurt anyone.

Indie Rock, Americana, and Folk Rock usually make up my playlist comically named “Travelin’ Feels”.

I realize that Indie, Folk, and Americana are sort of vague genres, so in general, I enjoy smooth guitar, a hint of country, and low, calm vocals in my traveling tunes. It’s sort of ironic that most of my traveling songs are about home or the act of coming home, but I am starting to think that’s why I listen to them. It’s because even though you travel, you are always home. God, that sounded cheesy, I apologize.

So anyway, here are my favorite traveling tunes:

“Welcome Home” by Radical Face – It’s such a wonderful song. It has this lyric, “You were never supposed to leave …”, which gets me every time I listen to it.

“Always Gold” by Radical Face (I like Radical Face) – It also has a great line: Everything goes away. Doesn’t it relate to traveling wonderfully?

“All Will Be Well” by The Gabe Dixon Band – It’s folksy with a great melody. Awesome for road trips!

“Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Roots – It’s that background song that you always hear in car commercials. It’s also a magnificent road trip song.

“Old Pine” by Ben Howard – This is a song a friend recommended. It’s like a Radical Face song but less ominous. He’s a good singer, and his song is very reflective.

“Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – I only found this one recently, but a friend told me it’s a really old song (so 2010). Either way, it’s catchy, melodious, and upbeat: A real keeper.

“Home” by Phillip Phillips – Let’s just take a moment and realize that someone actually has this name. Even though his name is redundant and this song was over played during the London Olympics, it’s still a sweet tune with a homey, folksy message.

This isn’t my normal type of music. Usually, I like Alternative and R&B, but when traveling, anything goes I guess. So, what’s your taste in traveling music? Is it as folksy as mine, or do you enjoy more intense tunes when on the road?