Musical Interlude: Backpacking Soundtrack

Well, I finally completed my two photo albums. 726 pics in total, which is a lot more than I intended. But I guess I saw too many beautiful things!

One thing about backpacking is that, for me at least, you pick up songs along the way that in the end will comprise the soundtrack of your trip. Unless you're on one of those crazy journeys that will see you visit 12 countries in 2 weeks, actually spending time in one region/country, hearing what's playing on the radio, at the bar, at the mall, in the clubs, etc, will allow you to discover a lot of things that you don't necessarily realize at first glance.

Music is a big part of my life, so I figure it's no surprise that I pick up a few tunes along the way. It doesn't matter whether you like those songs or not. As you keep hearing them, they become burned inside your brain and it's impossible to forget them. Soon enough, they become the soundtrack of your adventure. So much so that, even if you hate the song, the first thing you'll do when you get back is download it.

Here are the tunes that stuck for me this summer while touring around Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania:

Kat Deluna feat Busta Rhymes - Run The Show (New)
Uploaded by foxysoul

This catchy song is a bit special because it's the first tune I remember hearing in Warsaw. It was my very first morning, and I had just realized that no one spoke any English. I was thus forced to go to McD's to get a McMuffin for breakfast, and that song was playing on the screens inside the restaurant. It followed me for the rest of the trip, and seemed to be playing every hour or so in Helsinki.



As the theme for the Euro 2008, I heard this song several times a day for the duration of the soccer tournament and beyond. Odd that this one didn't cross the Atlantic. Given Enrique Iglesias' popularity in North America, I was sure it would make its way to our shores...



I think this song played every night we went out and sat on one of those pleasant outdoor terraces in Wroclaw and Krakow. And I remember hearing it all the time in Riga.

Love Song
Uploaded by RavenTV

I fully became aware of this song when its piano intro got tattoed inside my brain in Helsinki and I couldn't stop whistling it. It was quite popular in the Baltic States, and I heard it several times a day.

As you can see, it's a disparate bunch, but them's the breaks! You don't get to choose what you pick up. These tunes just seep into your subconscious and you're powerless. Like it or not, these 4 songs will forever be linked to all those great and not-so-great moments of my summer of 2008 adventure...