A lot has been written on the subject of travel tunes. World Hum created a list of the top 40 travel songs  and not to be outdone, Matador created their own list of 30 songs and later added 25 (non-cliched) travel songs. Taking it a step further, Girl, Unstoppable then chimed in with a list of travel songs by female artists and Gadling published a list of travel-inspired songs from the 1980’s.

Well, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and create my own list. Some of my favorite travel-themed songs have already been mentioned (like “Road Trippin'” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan), so in the interest of being original, I’ve compiled a list of seven songs that as far as I know, are under-the-radar enough to not have made it onto anyone else’s travel play-list yet.

I’ll be driving to Los Angeles tomorrow and will likely spend a good portion of the seven-hour drive stuck in traffic. So I figured I’d create a roadtrip soundtrack that’s calming and on the mellow side.

Enjoy!

“Dusseldorf” by Regina Spektor

Sample Lyrics: 
“In Montpelier I stayed in a chateau
A boy climbed into my bed and he knew no boundaries
In Amsterdam I got quite crazy
It might have been all the tulips and canals
Or it might have been all that hash…”

“Vagabond” by Wolfmother

)
Sample Lyrics:  “I go out walking all day long / Take this away this lonely man soon he will be gone / Cause I’ll tell you everything about living free.”

“Holiday in Spain” by The Counting Crows

)
Sample Lyrics:

“I may take a holiday in Spain
Leave my wings behind me
Drink my worries down the drain
And fly away to somewhere new…”

“Plane” by Jason Mraz

)
Sample Lyrics:

“Clean out the reds in my eyes to get by security lines
Dear x-ray machine
Pretend you don’t know me so well
I wont tell if you lied…”

“Paris” by Yael Naim

You might recognize Yael from her song “New Soul” which was used in an Apple Macbook commercial.

Sample Lyrics:

The lyrics are in French and Hebrew (the singer is Israeli) but here’s an English translation:

“I fled to a different place / So quickly / The farthest away and I succeeded / I am in Paris / The lights are gray and foggy / I am happy and it’s good for me / But I’m so cold / In Paris.”

“Driftwood” by Travis

Sample Lyrics:“Home is where your heart is / But your heart had to roam / Drifting over bridges / Never to return.”

“Sail Away” by David Gray

)

Sample Lyrics:

“Crazy skies all wild above me now
Winter howling at my face
And everything I held so dear
Disappeared without a trace…”

“Beach in Hawaii” by Ziggy Marley

)
Sample Lyrics:

“I wish you were here with me, walking on the beach in Hawaii
playing on the golden sand, looking at the ocean now I understand
love is like the open sea, and I wish you were here with me
on the beach in Hawaii…”

Reannon Muth

Reannon Muth is a full-time writer, social media consultant and owner and manager of the Taken by the Wind travel blog. Born in Hawaii, Reannon has lived in five countries, at Disney World and on a cruise ship. She currently lives in fabulous Las Vegas.