10 Great Soundtracks for Travel

1) Southampton (Titanic OST) by James Horner



What better soundtrack for travel can there be than the soundtrack that accompanied the most epic journey of all time? I don't know how James Horner does it, but every time I hear this music I want to cry because one moment there's this optimism and promise of a new life in a new land ("I'm the king of the world!") and the next thing you know they're on a sinking ship. But you know, if you don't think about that they're all faced with impending death, nothing beats this.

2) Cuzco by E.S. Posthumus



All of E.S. Posthumus's music sounds like something that should have come from a movie. When this music hits 00:42, it sounds like the dawn of a new day, and with it all the promise of adventure that comes with new beginnings.

3) Whole Wide World by Mindy Gledhill



I first heard Mindy Gledhill while I was watching one of Michelle Phan's makeup videos, and immediately fell in love with her music. The lyrics of this song have stuck with me for a long time; I mean, what's not to love about "I wanna hold the whole wide world right here in my open hands"? It's one of the most heartwarming songs I've ever heard, and when better to listen to a song about the Whole Wide World than when you're off seeing the whole wide world?

6) Hymn to Hope by Secret Garden



Imagine slowly walking down a woodland trail in autumn, with the leaves crunching as your feet press the ground, the cold air just starting to bite as you're huddled in swathes of warm clothes, then add this music. Need I say more? Didn't think so.

5) Ára Bátur by Sigur Rós



I first properly listened to this music after it was mentioned in the April 2012 National Geographic magazine, in an article about the mountain K2. I re-read the article (click here for it) with this playing, and since then the images of ascending a mountain and this music have been inseparable from each other. By the crescendo at the end, you feel like the great world around you has made you small, and you can't help but be wowed by the sheer brilliance of it.

6) The World Is Our ______ by This Will Destroy You



I once saw a time lapse of Iceland that used this music as its soundtrack. Not only did it complement the time lapse perfectly, but even the title, The World Is Our ______, got me thinking about what the world means to us as people. There's so much on this planet for us that if we don't take time to stop and see what we've missed, some day it's going to pass by us and we won't even know when it's gone.

7) On Earth As It Is In Heaven (The Mission OST) by Ennio Morricone



Ennio Morricone must be some kind of god - his film music has never been less than amazing, and the theme from The Mission is one of those pieces everyone has heard the tune of but no one quite knows where it's from. It's a beautiful piece that makes you feel like if you were to run towards the world, the world would simply pick you up and hug you in return.

8) Hymne by Era



I once made a series of YouTube music videos about my time on holiday in Sri Lanka (here, here and here) (be warned, they aren't very good) and one of the pieces of music I chose to accompany my footage was this. Both the title and the music seem to suggest something quasi-religious, and I feel that there is something indeed almost religious about travel. When people take pilgrimages to religious sites, it's the journey and not the destination that make the trip worth it; even then you don't have to be religious to know that the world is a wondrous place.

9) Lucy Meets Mr Tumnus (The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe OST) by Harry Gregson-Williams



I like likening Lucy meeting Mr Tumnus to a lone soul meeting the people a different culture, and with it, all the enchantment and naïve trust that comes with meeting new people. There's a beauty in the human connection of people, no matter where they're from, around the world when you travel, and I think this music captures that perfectly.

10) Hedwig's Theme (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone OST) by John Williams



When you're on a train, off going somewhere, just pretend that you're on the Hogwarts Express and off to Hogwarts. As far as magical journeys go, there's not much that gets more magical than going to a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.