When I’m dwelling and wish a repair of wanderlusting, I often pull up my Instagram or Facebook albums to moon over photos of previous travels. Recently I’ve realised that past enjoyable pictures, I’ve an audio-linked travelogue of kinds – sure songs that pop up on the radio take me again to particular journey reminiscences, which is one other enjoyable solution to keep in mind previous travels past journey journaling. I believed it’d be enjoyable to share a few of my journey tune reminiscences and tales right here and pull up some outdated journey pix and tales that I by no means acquired round to posting.
Cover photograph by Melanie Pongratz through Unsplash.
Cheap Thrills – Sia ft Sean Paul
‘Til I hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor
I got all I need
No, I ain’t acquired money, I ain’t acquired money
But I acquired you, child
Sia’s Cheap Thrills was launched in early 2016 and have become a little bit of a private social gathering anthem – anytime Sean Paul’s biddy-bang-bang comes on immediately, it takes me again to the European leg of my Career Break journey, a 4-month backpacking journey that noticed some hazy nights with plenty of alcohol and this tune blasting within the background.
Shout out to my bloghouse roomie Helen who does a fairly hilarious Sean Paul type rap – I at all times hear ‘biddy bang bang’ in my head in her voice. This tune positively rocked our Kenya tour which occurred proper within the midst of the European leg. My tour group have been a enjoyable bunch throughout and we had some enjoyable nights out.
I’m often not a lot of a celebration animal, however there have been some fairly wild nights on this journey because of the infectious vitality of being in a hostel with different fun-loving travellers (and low cost European beer – 2L of beer in a bottle for 1.5 Euro? Unthinkable in Singapore the place a pint is S$15 in most pubs). I do want to return to Serbia and Slovakia sometime as a result of I solely had 2 nights in every of their capital cities and possibly somewhat an excessive amount of boozy enjoyable there to essentially respect the sights correctly.
Were you hoping for some scandalous tales? The fantastic thing about solo journey is that what occurs on the highway can keep on the highway, nobody again dwelling must find out about what you’ve been as much as except you need them to know. I’d let you know concerning the story of midnight cheese sampling and a sheep I left behind in Edam close to Amsterdam… Also, the most effective moments often occur fairly spontaneously – no time for pictures!
I at all times encourage solo travellers to provide hostels a go, particularly in the event you’re trying to make buddies and are capable of put up with sharing a dorm room. It’s somewhat hit and miss in terms of discovering a connection however you’ll be able to join extra organically simply by being round like-minded individuals.
It’s additionally one thing that’s simpler to do if you’re youthful, hardier and somewhat extra keen to place your self on the market. Late-30s me scripting this now might be much less more likely to go ‘climb the Tatra Mountains’ in Bratislava (trace: this entails more and more potent photographs of Tatratea and has nothing to do with precise climbing) in comparison with early-30s me again then who was much more gungho and was out to have a good time.
Shaky Shaky – Daddy Yankee
Shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky
Shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky
Shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky, shaky
Cómo es, dame una vueltita otra vez
I can not emphasise to you the way a lot of a monster hit Shaky Shaky was in early 2017 whereas I used to be travelling round South America. You heard this tune 24/7 and by golly did I need to smack one thing each time I heard the phrases shaky shaky. Hearing this tune immediately takes me again to nights out in South America. Colombia particularly for some motive – Learning to Salsa Cali-style within the south, and nights strolling round Medellin looking for ramen of all issues because the Asian-Aussie journey pal wanted a correct noodle repair after being in South America for extra months than I had at that time.
Quito in Ecuador was one other place the place I stayed in a fairly taking place hostel – I often attempt to keep away from the full-on social gathering hostels, however I do like these with an excellent group vibe, which makes it potential for me to go take a look at nightlife as a result of I’m often fairly hesitant to enterprise out alone within the night after I’m travelling solo.
The iconic Luis Fonzi’s Despacito was one other tune that makes up the soundtrack of South America for me. Hearing the Bieber model in English after I acquired dwelling was actually bizarre for me as a result of I’d grow to be so accustomed to listening to the tune totally in Spanish. Other steadily heard songs throughout this era embody Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You and Clean Bandit’s Rockabye.
Nowadays I can hearken to this tune with out wanting to tear off my ears, although I’ve saved it off my Reggaeton playlists as a result of it’s so much. I really like blasting Reggaeton within the automotive to maintain my spirits up and it evokes me to apply a little bit of Spanish listening abilities – generally I translate the lyrics out of curiosity and am amused/horrified to know what I’m singing alongside to.
London Bridge – Fergie
How come each time you come round
My London, London Bridge wanna go down, like
London, London, London
Wanna go down like
London, London, London
Be taking place like
With an apparent title like that, you’d suppose my reminiscence must do with partying in London – I’ve been there a number of occasions over time and can admit to a very enjoyable night time in 2016 the place we tried to nab this standee of Queen Elizabeth from a pub we have been in…
But really, my thoughts goes again to freshly-graduated me travelling round Taiwan with my buddies in 2007. We have been huge on clubbing again then and this social gathering anthem was good for yell-singing alongside to which we did, very loudly, in a random Hualien pub known as All Star that we wandered into one wet night. I feel the bartenders have been very amused by these loud foreigners and gifted us some tequila photographs and jagerbombs on high of what we ordered.
You would possibly discover that alcohol is a fairly widespread theme with the songs which have popped up to this point. I actually don’t drink that a lot truthfully – consuming is extra of a social factor for me. But for me it’s these loud catchy songs that get caught in my head and that often occurs round nightlife.
Side be aware: this video is enjoying the censored model of the tune singing ‘Oh Snap’ as a substitute of ‘Oh Shit’, which is admittedly among the best components of the tune to yell together with.
Now I’ve been again to Taiwan many occasions since then, and I do must return to Hualien as a result of I actually need to see Taroko Gorge once more and take a look at extra of the jap area of Taiwan alone.
Another tune that I hyperlink with this group of buddies is Rihanna’s Diamonds. Because this tune was enjoying NONSTOP on the radio in 2012 once we have been driving across the UAE and I’d throw a match each time it got here on radio, my buddies had a variety of enjoyable going “SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND” at me all through that journey and watching me groan.
Daddy – Psy
Hey, the place did you get that physique from?
Where did you get that physique from?
Where did you get that physique from?
I acquired it from my daddy
I acquired it from my daddy
In 2015 I went as much as Seoul and Gyeonggi on a press journey and all through my journey I used to be made completely conscious that Psy (you possibly can’t NOT identified Gangnam Style at this level) had a brand new tune out. Because it was, critically, enjoying EVERYWHERE I went. It’s catchy and boppy and I can look again on it now with some fondness, however boy I used to be sick of that tune when it was simply launched. I wasn’t even into Kpop again then however I knew this tune as a result of it was blasting in all the department stores and outlets.
This explicit journey to South Korea had a little bit of a hallyu angle to it – we visited a number of spots that featured Okay-pop, Okay-drama and Okay-variety stars. The boy group Bigbang was very in then too – Bang Bang Bang was one other tune which got here out about that point that I couldn’t appear to shake.
But at that time limit, I didn’t know a factor concerning the Korean leisure scene so a variety of this was fairly overseas to me. When fellow journos on the journey have been freaking out as a result of we had run into the solid of selection present Infinite Challenge and the favored host Yoo Jae Suk, I had no thought who he was in any respect.
When I did get again dwelling and began writing up my journey articles, I listened to the songs of those fashionable artists for some inspiration and inadvertently realised that Kpop was an effective way to maintain me awake as a result of the songs I favoured have been loud and boppy, however because it was in a overseas language I used to be much less distracted from singing alongside. I began a particular Kpop playlist that I placed on after I must do some severe writing.
I solely really acquired into Kpop someday in 2018 or so. I used to be freelancing round that point and maybe with a bit extra time on my arms, I one way or the other began delving into the teams of my favorite Kpop music, which led into watching Korean selection exhibits and the occasional Korean drama. If you’re in my automotive when my Kpop playlist is blasting, you’ll hear a mixture of Bigbang, Winner, Buzz and even some Epik High and Hyukoh.
The comfortable energy of Kpop is actual: I’ve returned to Korea a number of occasions in recent times and explored outdoors Seoul to locations like Busan and Suncheon and I positively developed a style for Korean Ramyeon from watching them slurp it up on all these selection exhibits.
Thankfully as of late I don’t really feel like wringing my neck after I hear the Daddy tune anymore and might actually respect how weirdly cool the music video is.
Hands to myself – Selena Gomez
Can’t maintain my arms to myself
No matter how laborious I’m attempting to
I need you all to myself
Your metaphorical gin and juice
On a press journey to Southern Sumatra again 2016, we spent a variety of time using buses transversing the nation roads to get across the island, and I don’t know whose playlist we have been utilizing within the bus however the one tune that at all times got here on when the engine got here on was Hands to myself by Selena Gomez: CAN’T KEEP MY HANDS TO MYSELF, doob doob, CAN’T KEEP MY HANDS TO MYSELF.
At some level everyone simply groaned when that tune kicked in, nevertheless it’s such a robust sense reminiscence that my thoughts at all times goes again to that journey after I hear it on the radio now. I consider looking over sprawling wallpaper-like tea fields on the foot of the volcano, or the vast open Lake Ranau and its peaceable views.
I in all probability ought to have blogged extra about this journey, nevertheless it’s not the best place to get to by yourself and I had a variety of journey taking place throughout these halcyon years from 2016-2018, and we already know that I’m not as devoted a blogger as I must be – a variety of my travels by no means make it to the weblog sadly!
One different reminiscence: I don’t often get carsick, however on this someday I will need to have gotten some bizarre abdomen bug as a result of I discovered myself standing behind the coach puking my guts out at hour 10 of an 11-hour bus trip. That was not enjoyable. Thankfully it solely occurred one time through the journey!
What songs remind you of previous journeys or journey moments? Share them with me within the feedback. Check out a few of my different posts about how I journey right here: