It’s happened often. I’m on a trip and I hear a popular song a few times. It’s not necessarily a song I like, but years later when I hear it, I’m instantly transported back to that location including the memories, tastes, and emotions I experienced while there.

Case One: Cuba

Back in 2002, we travelled to Cuba on our first hot holiday. It was also the first time we heard the mega hit “Aserejé” by the Spanish pop group Las Ketchup. We heard it several times during that week away and to this day when I hear it I can remember exactly how the sun felt on my shoulders, the taste of the rice and beans we ate, and the slight buzz I had from the minty mojitos I was drinking.

Case Two: Berlin

While strolling the shops on a trip in Berlin in 2011, we heard the song “That Man” by Dutch jazz signer Cara Emerald and loved it. Using the iPhone app Shazam, we found the album and listened to it quite a bit in our rented apartment in Prenzlauer Berg. Now when I hear it, I can vividly remember a meal we cooked while listening to it including the walk to the local grocery store to get the ingredients.

More than the travel photos or the souvenirs I bring home, the musical associations I have with a place I’ve visited engage all my senses and emotions. It’s incredibly powerful.

How music makes travel memories stronger

The more I read about how music affects our brains the more fascinated I am. This article on the BBC website explains how music aids our brains to retrieve memories:

“The hippocampus and the frontal cortex are two large areas in the brain associated with memory and they take in a great deal of information every minute. Retrieving it is not always easy. It doesn’t simply come when you ask it to. Music helps because it provides a rhythm and rhyme and sometimes alliteration which helps to unlock that information with cues. It is the structure of the song that helps us to remember it, as well as the melody and the images the words provoke.”

Neuroscience has recently revealed potential therapeutic uses of the music-memory link for conditions such as dementia and depression. Before a recent trip to Montreal, I used an app created by earworms to brush up on my French. The app uses a male and female voice exchanging French phrases in a language lesson alongside a musical backdrop. The repetition infused with the music is designed to reinforce learning. Pretty cool.

So, can you create a music-travel memory on purpose?

Case Three: Istanbul

On our last trip to Istanbul, I didn’t want to leave cementing a musical memory to chance so I aimed to orchestrate it. I had heard a compelling snippet of music on a podcast I was listening to just prior to our trip. It was RAC’s “Let Go.” I bought the album but didn’t listen to it until we were on our trip.

A few days in a row, when we got back to our rented apartment after a day of sightseeing, I listened to the album. The result? I don’t know, maybe it’s too soon after the trip. This has become a favourite album of mine and I listen to it a lot. I’m not getting any strong associative memories when I do. Maybe I need some time away from it for it to work.

If you’ve intentionally created a music memory while travelling, I’d love to hear about it. What do you think made your approach successful?

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