Top 5 Songs On My Desert Island Travel Playlist

I don't talk about this very often on here, but music is a huge, huge part of my life - not only because I'm a classically trained pianist and violinist, but also because our home is never without music. John made sure of this when he installed wireless speakers on each floor of the house so we could synchronize our Spotify accounts on our smartphones to essentially create a "soundtrack" as we move from room to room.

We're such geeks.

We listen to a mixture of lo-fi, alt rock, (old school) hip hop, classical, and electronic music at home ... our tastes range from Blood Orange to Johnny Cash to the Smiths to Local Natives. Occasionally, we'll blast Everclear and dance around to stuff we both listened to in high school, despite growing up a whole ocean apart.

So, when HMV asked me to compile a "desert island playlist" of songs I listen to on my travels, I was all too happy to contribute. Maybe a little too enthusiastically.

Here's my list, which I've made location-specific:

When I'm flying to ... Seattle, Washington

Once, when I was interviewed for a radio station about being an expat in London, they asked me what song reminded me most of home. My response? Neko Case's 'Ghostwiring'. I realized how out of place this sounded when I found out what the other interviewees had replied with: songs by Beyoncé, Drake, and Brad Paisley, apparently. Take these lyrics, for example: "Low ceiling moves in / and circles the bay / Rain rakes the trees / The Sound that's counted so many days / So many days." Nothing captures the essence of the Puget Sound or Pacific Northwest quite as skillfully as this beautiful sequence of words, sung in Neko's distinctive timbre. Her music makes me homesick and nostalgic.

When I'm on a train to ... the English countryside

It always is and always will be Ralph Vaughan-Williams' 'The Lark Ascending'. John and I love this piece so much, it's not unusual to hear us blasting it at full volume throughout the house! Along with his protegé, Gerald Finzi, Vaughan-Williams had the uncanny ability of translating the English landscape into music, just as Aaron Copland did for the American heartland (listen to Appalachian Springs if you don't know what I'm talking about - you'll immediately picture prairies and farms in the American midwest!). The opening measures set the tone (and the scene): I can see a moor with peaks and valleys in my mind's eye. By the time the "lark" enters with its soaring trills and heartwrenching melody, I'm lost in a daydream. I especially love hurtling through the countryside at high speeds listening to this piece.

When I'm relaxing on ... a Sri Lankan beach 

Once, I had a panic attack on a sleeper train travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Vietnam. The air conditioning had gone off in the middle of the night and cockroaches appeared over every bare surface: including my pillow and bed. I only managed to get a couple hours of sleep in between hyperventilating when John popped an eye shade on me and put Jonsi & Alex's 'Happiness' in my ears and I watched the sunrise to this song. It's the ultimate song for relaxation - something you'd listen to during savansana at the end of a yoga class. If heaven had a theme song, it'd be this one. 

When I'm on a city break in ... Singapore

'Rose Quartz' by Toro y Moi. John and I saw him at Brixton Academy a few years ago and it was such a good show. His songs always remind me of whizzing around a big city and it was the song that came to mind when I was at the top of 1-Altitude, the highest rooftop bar in Singapore.

When I'm driving through ... the vineyards of France

When I say "I'm driving", I totally mean John driving ... I haven't yet driven abroad (UK included, oops!). Every memory I've had of France has involved renting a car and driving around the countryside, whether it's in Normandy, the Dordogne, or more recently, Bordeaux. I'm usually in charge of the music (which John has the power to veto, though we practically share the same Spotify playlist) and I haven't been able to get the aptly named 'Souvenirs' by Etherwood out of my head since we accidentally got lost while it was playing from one of our phones in the rental car - somewhere around Arcachon Bay. It's upbeat and perfect for driving to.

So, that's my desert island travel playlist. What's on yours? I'd love to (literally) hear!

This post was written in collaboration with HMV. All opinions are my own.