Time traveling through songs of our past
A trip down memory lane to trips we've loved, places we've lived and the people we miss
Having adapted a more stationary lifestyle (at least for the time being), I find myself traveling through music. Like many people, music has always played a large role in my life. I remember seeing the bands Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire at a young age with my family on Long Island and ever since, I’ve attended countless gigs and even worked in the music industry not too long ago. And while there’s something incredibly special about discovering a new artist or band and learning the lyrics to all their songs, this past year has been more about revisiting old favorites.
More often than not in 2020 and ’21, I’ve found myself time traveling through the songs and albums that remind me of pivotal moments or adventures in my life. These songs give me the creature comforts of familiarity — in melody, in memory and of the places I love. With the opening chords, I’m instantly transported back to the place I first heard them or played them on repeat as my own personal anthem.
Love them or hate them, I’m here to share five… in all their cheesy, emo, melancholic, dancey, indie, poppy glory.
I haven’t been home to New York in nearly 2 years now and the pangs of homesickness can be agonizing. Popping on The Ataris’ So Long Astoria (which also has the excellent and well-known cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” on it) instantly transports me to driving with friends in my best friend’s bright blue Hyundai, windows down on the Wantagh Parkway, en route to a day at the beach. Call me emo, but even today I can think of no other place or feeling that makes me happier than being with them on a hot Long Island summer day.
After losing my job as a newspaper reporter just a year after graduating college, I felt totally lost. That feeling proved not to be a bad thing though, when in January 2010, I packed up a backpack and took an 8-month gap year, wandering my way through Southeast Asia and the Middle East, beginning in Thailand and ending in Jordan. It’s a toss-up which song I played more — “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap or this one, but hey – we’re going with the travel theme here, right? 😉
“Some Place” – Nick Waterhouse
Nothing reminds me more of my time living in Los Angeles than playing Angeleno Nick Waterhouse’s debut album, Time’s All Gone. Popping this vinyl on in my living room more than 4,000 miles and nearly 10 years away from my days living in sunny Southern California brings me right back to The Getty Center’s free summer concerts where I first saw him play, and driving up and down the PCH in search of LA’s best beaches and burritos.
“Run Away With Me” – Carly Rae Jepsen
The moment that sax intro hits in Carly Rae’s “Run Away With Me,” I’ve danced my way back in time to moving to London for the first time. This song was probably my most-played song of 2015 and definitely of lockdown and with good reason: it reminds me of late-night dance parties with new friends, karaoke nights and best of all, the silent disco at my first (and muddiest) time at Glastonbury Festival. This song has been played so much in our house this last year that even my boyfriend is now a Carly Rae stan.
“Love You For a Long Time” – Maggie Rogers
It may not be an old song, but this song has consistently featured in my playlists since it was released just before lockdown, which also happened to be right when I met my boyfriend Alex. Chalk it up being a love in the time of coronavirus success story (awwwww), but this song — just like Alex — immediately puts a smile on my face. It may not remind me of faraway places, festivals or explorations in the literal sense, but it does take us back on our travels up and down the motorway (illegally, shhhh!) between London and Sheffield as we navigated love in lockdown.
What’s on your time travel soundtrack? I’d love to know.
Until then,
X
Sarah
Good Trip Advisor
Local’s Corner
🚨 Dream job alert 🚨 George Turner is a wildlife photographer based in Southern England whose work has been featured in places like National Geographic and BBC Earth. No biggie…
He’s leading a once-in-a-lifetime workshop in Maasai Mara this November that combines “the joy of safari, photographic workshops, and an incredible series of insightful and meaningful positive impact experiences” called Conservation, Communities, and Cameras. P.S. Check out his incredible Instagram too.
The song he has on repeat:
“So Long, Lonesome” by Explosions in the Sky. I still associate it with my first ever trip to Africa (Kenya!), namely flying into the Maasai Mara. Every time I listen to it, the feelings and memories come flooding back.
Where he wants to travel next, post-COVID:
Total tossup between Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia. Ideally, all 3 in a row!
The place he’s traveled to that he’d like to go back to:
Rubondo Island in the Tanzanian section of Lake Victoria, a true untouched wilderness. I'm not a religious person but boy, if Eden was a real place, I already know where it is.
His favorite local spot within a 15 minute walk of his apartment:
My sunrise runs in the local woods... it's just me, the deer, and foxes!
An ideal day for him in Cornwall:
Dog walk at dawn in the local woods, a run along the coast path, surfing over lunchtime, a veggie Cornish pasty to re energise, dog walk number two along coast, sitting on 'our' bench to watch the sun dip into the Atlantic Ocean.
Good Use of Screen Time
It’s a few years old, but if you’ve got Prime, pop on 6 episode miniseries The Night Manager for a transporting political thriller through Cairo, Mallorca, the Middle East and more. The story’s great, but the scenery is great-er 😍
Hot days have got us dreaming of one of the OG greats. IYKYK…
