Music: The Soundtrack of your Travels

An epic road trip deserves an epic playlist. Usually, you're going to want more than the one CD you forgot in your car's player.

Music forms the soundtrack for a large portion of our lives while relaxing, working, studying, dancing and more. A band or album can represent periods of our life, so it's no surprise then that music is so inherently tied to the new adventures that travel presents. A certain song heard while on a trip can forever connect you to that destination. In the future you may hear this song again, and memories will come flooding, allowing you to re-live this travel experience again and again.
This writer's favourite moment: Driving along a curving mountain road, passing between the humbling Rockies while listening to Bon Iver's Holocene and the lyrics "At Once I knew I was not magnificent," coming through our car's speakers. I can't help but have that trip to British Columbia in mind when that song comes on now.

Some tips on making a great travel soundtrack. Listen to local artists – Stock your iPod up with Arcade Fire, the Tragically Hip and Neil Young when driving across the Trans Canada Highway. Purchase a CD of reggatone music while journeying around Central America, and indulge yourself in another aspect of the culture. Maybe even try your new moves out at the discoteque. Don't force it or feel the need to create the perfect, curated soundtrack. Sometimes the radio or a random collection of CDs work together with the view outside your dashboard and create a unexpected connection.

Check out some of these destination based playlists curated by Lonely Planet: