Music is a powerful force. A single song can transport you to the exact time, place, and mood you were in when you first heard it. Keep note of what you hear wherever you go and time-travel back to the most important moments of your life.

Discovering the "Summer of..." CD

It’s late on a Saturday in the closing days of summer break after my final year of high school. My friends and I pile into the car after spending another entire day at the beach. The driver takes his position, and I take the front passenger seat in accordance with universally accepted, unwritten laws enforceable by any man who yells “shotgun” upon sight of the vehicle with which a trip is to be taken.  One of the luxuries afforded to the person who sits in this coveted seat of my friend’s jeep is that he or she automatically becomes the “DJ” for the ride back home. Because this is a time before AUX cords and Bluetooth connections became widespread, I began to look through my buddy’s catalog of bought and burned CDs.  

This was the first time I had ever seen a “Summer of” CD.  

I asked my friend about it and he directed me to a section of the book that contained discs from each of the last 4 years. I picked the one that was labeled from the summer before our sophomore year, slid it into the player on the dashboard, and pressed shuffle.  

This was one of the last few times that we would all be together before most of us left for college in other parts of the state… and up until that point, that fact hadn’t really hit us yet. As the first couple of songs cycled through, the rowdy banter that normally accompanied our rides home from the beach died down. Prolonged periods of silence were only broken by the occasional “oh shit, do you remember when…” or “wow, I haven’t heard this since…” and the stories that followed.  

We heard songs that we forgot about, songs that we loved, songs that were popular during our first times hanging out, and those songs that we hated that we knew all the words to but couldn’t help it because of how often they were played that year. Whether we realized it or not at the time, the music we listened to on that car ride home had a powerful effect on us. It was as if one-by-one, each of us were thrown into a personal memory that was being lived through again in our minds. During the 30-minute trip home, I was sent on a nostalgic journey through high school and each song sent me back to the exact times and places I heard it. It was beautiful. I kept thinking, “how have I never had the sense to make a CD like that?!” 

Fast forward to the present

I have a different playlist of mp3’s for every trip I have taken since the first time I went backpacking. It sounds cheesy as hell, but I am convinced that music is one of the most powerful influences on the human mind in existence. How many times have you, or someone you know, had to skip a track or change the station because a song came on that reminded them of someone or something they didn’t want to think about?

Having a certain emotion or memory tied to a piece of music is a very real phenomenon that I think should be harnessed and exploited, not avoided. As it turns out, “music-evoked autobiographical memories” have been studied by psychologists and neuroscientists for years. Music has a way of hard-wiring itself into the neural connections of your brain when it is heard consciously or subconsciously in the background during influential experiences of your life. Those connections are so strong, that just hearing the first few seconds of a song decades later can plunge you headfirst into vivid, textured memories of a person, location, or experience.  

Why not take advantage this? Imagine closing your eyes and stepping into a time machine so you could re-live the best parts of your summer in France. Now, doesn’t that sound about a million times better than trying to remember the vacation with an "I ♥ Paris" t-shirt or €5 coffee mug with the Eiffel Tower on it?  

What You Should Do

 It is as easy as making a list of songs you hear the most during your trip. Write down the names of the songs you hear regularly throughout, either in a journal or on the ‘notes’ function of your phone. Make sure you are making a list of songs you hear the most frequently and not just all the catchy songs that happen to come on during a random Uber ride. The more you flood your playlist with random songs, the less powerful the significant ones will have when you listen back to them all.  

While you’re traveling, keep your ears open for the songs you hear on the radio, in taxis, in bars or at clubs. Train yourself to pay attention what you hear in the background at the beach, in the store, or just around town. Many of the songs you hear won’t be in English, but apps like SoundHound and Shazam make it remarkably simple to keep a record of the songs you hear many times. Also, don’t be afraid to ask someone the name of the song or artist singing. If the person knows the answer, they may become delighted to learn that a foreigner has taken an interest in the country’s music. This can be a great conversation starter, opening communication between the two of you, maybe even leading to a new friendship. That will add even more of a meaningful significance to that song.  

Oh, and don’t be afraid to write down songs that you’ve heard back home before your trip. Even the most familiar Billboard Top 100 songs will take on a whole new meaning to you after it plays in the background during some of the more exciting nights back at the hostel.  

After your trip is over, wait a few days, weeks, or even months before you open the list of songs. Then, one day, after looking through some of the pictures you posted, throw your headphones in. Lean back, press play, and close your eyes. You will be amazed at how profound it is to be completely washed over by the memories that the music sparks up. You won’t just recall images of the things you saw, no. With the soundtrack of your trip pouring back into your perception, you will live the trip as if you are there all over again. Each song transporting you to another spot on the map, with all the people you met, in the carefree mood you were in, experiencing all the sensations anew. You’ll feel your soul smile.  

Best souvenir ever.