Train Song(s)

My last extended trip to Europe was back in 2011. Taking three weeks to visit Paris, the Netherlands, and Ireland seemed extravagant at the time (and it really was). I retain a physically tangible memory of the landscape slipping past train windows while I listened to a mix of new-to-me music recommended by friends alongside longtime road-trip favorites. A November trip through misty-gray countrysides, it was a perfectly melancholic atmosphere, and I still associate the songs and artists I heard for the first time on that trip with that sense of discovery and motion. (One in particular stands out: “All Will Be Well,” a Gabe Dixon Band song that I’d first heard on Parks & Recreation the night before I left, which became a kind of solitude-anthem on that trip.)

I’m gearing up for another round of this (but so much more so) as I head into a trip that sees me skipping through a wide swath of Europe with dozens of train rides stitching it all together. So after the jump, in no particular order and with many omissions, are twenty travel songs that I know are going on my list, with many yet to come (and hopefully many more to be discovered). More will come from a superbflood of suggestions I got by opening up the question to Facebook, but these are my standard-bearers for this type a travel.

It’s a pretty mellow mix – when I’m driving I like an amped-up mix, but on a train I tend to like the quieter, more contemplative stuff. At least I think I do? I guess I have some time to figure that out???



(Song titles open in a new window, or just let the Youtube playlist go once you've started it!)

1. Train Song (Tom Waits)
2. Sí, Paloma (Sun Kil Moon)
3. Cast Your Fate to the Wind (Vince Guaraldi)
4. Not a Robot, But a Ghost (Andrew Bird)
5. Lump Sum (Bon Iver)
6. Let Me Tell You About My Boat(Mark Mothersbaugh)
7. Eveningland (Hem – The whole album is perfect for train trips)
8. Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National)
9. No Man’s Land (Sufjan Stevens)
10. How Loud Your Heart Gets (Lucius)
11. First Few Desperate Hours (Mountain Goats)
12. Poor Places (Wilco)
13. Nattöppet (Detektivbyrån)
14. Killer Crane (TV on the Radio)
15. Jacksonville Skyline (Whiskeytown)
16. Javelin (Michael Torke)
17. The Dharma at Big Sur (John Adams)
18. Silent Way (Milo Greene)
19. Graceland (Paul Simon, but check out the Tallest Man On Earth cover, it’s GREAT)
20. Blue Skies (Noah and the Whale)

And a bonus entry, yet another last-minute discovery from 2011, which played through most of my Parisian adventures…

    21. La Fée(Zaz)

Countdown

Three weeks from today I'll be sleeping in Vienna.

I'm spending a little less than two more weeks in this apartment.

It all is: vaguely terrifying, if also exciting. But it's all coming soon.

For no discernable reason, the anthem that leaps to mind here isn't "Countdown" or "The Final Countdown" or even Billy Joel's "Vienna" but this weirdzo li'l tune:

Like Yelp, but for where you sleep and bathe!

I’ve been booking most of my accommodations for this trip through AirBnB, which is insanely cheap compared to hotel or even B&B lodgings. In most cases I’m paying roughly hostel prices for apartments (or, in the wealthier nations, B&B-style guest rooms). And that’s neat!

What’s weird is that there’s a bit of wild west-ism to the AirBnB market. Since these are private individuals typically renting just one room or flat at a time, there’s no such thing as a guidebook recommendation. Instead, you rely on photos of the place (if they don’t show the bathroom do not book) and previous guest reviews. Yes: you are at the mercy of Internet Reviewers, and as we have all learned from Yelp, Internet Reviewers are known for their sage and not-at-all-neurotic-or-insane preferences. Here, for instance, is a highlight from a recent search:

 

As with insane Yelp reviews, this is captivating because of the kernel of possibility at the core. Doesthe host fly off the handle? Does she sit in front of the TV waiting for her phone to ring, like a Hammer Studios monster brooding in front of a roaring fire? It’s possible, but maybe not worth making that assumption based on a user who’s threatening to sue over a couple of pairs of shoes. For an indecisive planner like me, this stuff is gold. I could weigh the pros and cons for months! Who even needs to go to Europe when I can while away the hours picking away at these questions?