Road trips are an excellent way to see a country and offer a more authentic glimpse into the culture than a guidebook.  One of our rules, other than never forgetting the big 3 (wallet, phone, keys) is to always have a choice playlist on hand.  Whether your road trip is local or abroad, we think you should check out these road trip songs and consider adding them to your travel playlist.

 

Wake Up – Arcade Fire

‘Wake Up’ is our road trip national anthem.  Is there a more inspiring way to start our journey?  Not for us.  You might be thinking “I’ve heard that song somewhere before?” because the song was featured in the movie ‘Walter Mitty’.  The theme song from a movie about travels & triumphs correctly deserves to be the face of our inaugural road trip playlist (or mixtape if you’re older than 30).



 

Dare you to Move – Switchfoot

We dare you to not like this song.  As the perfect road trip tune, the intensity of this song slowly builds until it breaks into the chorus….which challenges us to ‘move’, ideal as you’re cruising down miles of asphalt.  If this isn’t a perfect enough reason to add to your mix tape, the song continues to alternate between the exciting highs of the powerful chorus and captivating lyrics that contribute to making this song an easy choice as one of our favorite road trip tunes.




 

One Day – Matisyahu

This song might be idealistic with lyrics like “One day we’ll all be free, and proud to be under the same sun, singing songs of freedom”, but tell me…can you really listen to this song and not be inspired to travel somewhere and make the world a better place at the same time?  If you don’t find yourself dreaming during this song, check your pulse.  These 3 and a half minutes of utopian philosophy rightly deserve a place on our playlist.



 

Piano Man – Billy Joel

Just like Macallan 25, this song is an oldie but a goodie.  Piano man tells us the story of a jaded and gifted singer, in the smoky saloons of yesteryear.  Is this song about regrets, triumphs and was this our senior prom song?  I think the answer to the first two questions is who cares and the answer to the last question is most definitely yes!  So, pump the volume up and lower the windows as you sing-along to this all-time classic.



 

Budapest – George Ezra

Full disclosure, we’re partial to this song because we spent time in Budapest recently, a city we absolutely loved.  We like this song not because the lyrics make little sense, but because of the subtle guitar riffs in the chorus and we find ourselves dreaming of new places we’d like to explore.  Thing reminds us of one of our favorite places, does it remind you of any place you’ve been?




 

Tuesday’s Gone – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Why do we think this song deserves the final spot on our inaugural road trip mix tape?  Imagine you’re nearing the end of a trip, you’ve traveled hundreds of miles, seen things you’ll never forget and in general, crushed life.  There is no better anthem to play you out into the sunset than Tuesday’s Gone.  Yes, “Tuesday’s gone with the wind” but your memories will live on forever.  Lynyrd Skynyrd is a band that hated vowels more than Yankees, so it’s appropriate to play to this song on the open road, on your way back home (as long as you don’t live in New England).