Study Abroad Playlist: Get Pumped for Your Traveling Adventures
Oh, the stories told to us by the songs we sing — er, listen to.
Music plays a crucial role in our daily lives. It has such a powerful way of touching our deepest emotions. Music helps us to think back to certain times, events, and people in our lives with a variety of feelings. In short, we reflect on and remember a lot by the songs we choose to let play in our ears.
Sometimes it is the music alone that gets us energized. Other times, it is the lyrics that endear us to its meaning. And still, at other times, it is the time period in which the song was released or where we first heard the song that reminds us of the way things used to be. Or it’s that one song that is our life’s anthem no matter where we are.
If you are preparing to leave home at least for a while to advance your studies abroad, be sure to pack your passport and your playlist.
I’d be remiss to think all of these songs will have the desired impact on you. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll let them enter into your ears and your soul on your trip to a land far away and you might gain a new meaning for life. After all, music is a language we all understand.
Here’s a list to get you started:
“On the Road Again” — Willie Nelson
Can’t say I’m a huge fan of country music, but this one is a treasure. The song is about, you guessed it, being on the road again and that freedom feeling when you let your hair down and open your eyes wide for what’s around the corner.
Not exactly a travel song but it does give off a super cool vibe that really makes you want to get up and go somewhere. There’s a lot of fun to experience in life and the lyrics make you want to head off in that direction. Like this jaunty line: “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.”
“Born to Run” — Bruce Springsteen
Most likely, a rolling song about a girl with an ordinary name. In reality, an everyone-has-had-this-moment song about getting the hell out of town and heading to a place one’s never been just for the thrill, “‘cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.”
“Wide Open Spaces” — The Dixie Chicks
Yes, “wide open spaces” to dream, to think, to create, to be. Turns out, the Dixie Chicks weren’t too far off from swooning us with our heart’s desire of something new and different. “A place out west” ain’t so bad.
Life is a climb but once you get to the top, the view is awesome. Traveling can be overwhelming — going through borders and customs isn’t exactly a piece of cake — but patience and perhaps this song with its cool beat will help you get there.
Okay, okay, this isn’t exactly a study abroad song, but it does have that soulful nostalgic feeling of being at a point in life where you’re young and invincible and you feel like you can take on the world. Well, you can, kind of.
“Timing Is Everything” — Garrett Hedlund
So many things can go wrong on your trip to faraway lands, but also so many things can go right. Sometimes, you simply have to trust that you’re doing the right thing and that things will work out in time. After all, the best line of this song is, “When the stars line up and you catch a break, people think you’re lucky but you know it’s grace.”
“Come Away With Me” — Norah Jones
You may not find your forever love in Paris next to the Eiffel Tower, but this song does speak to the idea of innocence and wonder when you’re young. We don’t have so many fears and apprehensions that keep us back from following our dreams.
“Airplanes” — BoB and Hayley Williams
This song could have a wide variety of meanings but I think the appeal is in the title. It’s about goals, dreams, desire, wishes and failure. Studying abroad is a goal for many students who are on the move anyway, and many have this deep desire to learn about parts of the world they’ve never been too. In some ways, this song will take you through the experiences of traveling through life.
From start to finish, this song is all about traveling so no playlist would be complete without it. The lyrics are crisp, the music is upbeat, and the message could pass as the young traveler’s anthem.
“Homeward Bound” — Simon & Garfunkel
“Got a ticket for [your] destination.” The short story behind this song is that Paul Simon was performing across England and was eager to get back home to his girlfriend in London. His train hit some major delays and so he had nothing but time to write about the weary traveler and that homesick feeling.
The word “wanderlust” by definition means a strong desire to travel the world and explore all it has to offer. So this song certainly fits the bill. Legend has it that McCartney got to record this song on a boat. One of the boats was named “Wanderlust” but the actual recording was done on another boat.
“Midnight Train to Georgia” — Gladys Knight & The Pips
This is kind of a sad song since it reflects the divorce Knight was going through at the time, but it does remind us of going home. Maybe the country where you’re headed is one in which your long-gone ancestors were natives so many years ago.
That’s it — a playlist that will get you excited about heading off to worlds unknown. Happy travels!