On one of my favorite road trips of all time, I made an awesome playlist that spanned the duration of the drive. To this day, whenever I hear a certain song, it takes me back to the moment it was playing through the car speakers and my friends and I were belting out off-key lyrics. Was it the playlist that made the trip so awesome? I like to think so, but I’m probably not right. Still, it certainly didn’t hurt. Actually, a good friend just found out that she was awarded the Hope Scholarship on the day of our trip, so that definitely lightened the mood.
So, if you’re planning a road trip soon, consider donning your maestro hat (do maestros wear hats?) and putting together an awesome playlist of your own. Here are a few ideas:
- Arrange by year – Start with the 50s (great time in music) and create a different CD (or groupings of songs on an mp3 player) for each decade. You can either mix it up or play them as they were introduced from the 50s all the way until today.
- Songs about travel – There are tons of great travel-worthy songs. Life is a Highway and Leaving on a Jet Plane are just two examples of an almost endless supply. Be creative and fill your playlist with songs to celebrate the journey.
- Destination songs – This one might be the most challenging, but it’s the most fun (in my opinion). If you’re going to a popular place, like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, you should be able to fill a few hours with songs about your destination to get you excited to get there.
- Songs about going home – Your road trip isn’t final just because you checked out of the hotel. You’ve still got to get back, right? Fill your return trip playlist with songs about going home and missing home. It’ll help shift the mood from being sad about the end of your vacation and happy about seeing friends and family again.