Flipping through the FM dial this morning on my way to work, I landed on 88.9 FM, which was playing "Milk and Honey," one of my favorite tracks from Beck's amazing "Midnite Vultures."
Instantly, I found myself transported to the Edens Expressway, en route to Chicago. For some reason, every time I drive to Illinois, I crank up that album. It seems to make a boring drive go faster.
That's when I realized that for every reoccurring road trip in my life, I tend to play a certain soundtrack. It's because I'm a creature of habit, of course, but the cool part is that whenever I hear one of the songs somewhere else, my mind wanders to its happy place.
They say that the sense of smell is the most powerful one, that it can evoke memories instantly. Maybe that's true, but sound can't be far behind.
For example, every year, when my friend Eron and I trek up to Door County for our annual weekend getaway, we begin the trip by blasting this obscure bootleg album from a psychedelic early '70s Puerto Rican rock band called Bandolero (don't bother trying to find it on iTunes; we got it in the dollar bin at a Tucson used record shop).
Or, when I'm at the cabin Up North, I mix up a little Hank Williams III with Skynyrd, which always seems appropriate.
Or, if I'm in Phoenix for Spring Training, our group has a special "mix tape" that grows and evolves each year.
When it's cold and dark here in the middle of the winter, all I need to do is play "Now It's On" by Grandaddy, and immediately my mind drifts to the berm at Maryvale Baseball Park.
You get the idea.
What are your road trip soundtracks? Chime in using the Talkback feature below.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
