Last time when I visited Sylhet, the whole tour I was listening to Satriani. Though I’ve listened to his albums (studio) couple of times on my way to Sylhet, reaching there I found that the album ‘The Extremist’ was perfect for the weather and the nature. I mean, I discovered some kind of harmony between the music and the place. From Ratargul to Bichsanakandi; from Shobhan Ghat to Jaflong and through the tea estates of Sreemangal I kept listening to The Extremist while watching the mesmerizing beauty. And last winter arriving at St. Martins I was craving for live music, sitting at the beach. I badly missed my guitar and was looking for a group of traveling musicians to soothe my mind with acoustic melodies. But guess what, life doesn’t always surprise us! Had to get back on my playlist. Luckily, I had ‘Obak Bhalobasa’ in the list then. Midnight at the beach, listening to ‘Obak Bhalobasa’– that moment I was within the group yet alone with the moon, out of the world!
Like few of my boring (maybe) flashbacks with music, I believe you guys also have memories with music and that’s of course while traveling. But ever wondered why do we listen to music when we travel?
Let’s forget of tours; think of our regular journey to the varsity. On our way to the campus whether in the varsity bus or a public transport we usually put our headsets on and play our favorite numbers. The interesting part, we never think why we actually do it. Maybe music has a hidden power in it or we never realize how music boasts us up and keeps us going.
Researches show, music de-stresses us and makes us feel relaxed. Our problems seem to dissolve for a while. Hormones like cortisol are secreted due to stress. Music can work on stress hormones and decrease its level. Soothing and melodious music can release feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. Our city life is full of traffic, noises and thousand other reasons to irritate us every day as we travel. These leave huge stress over ourselves. But we still feel good when we get down at our destination, if we listen to music when we travel. Music refreshes us and keeps our mood on.
On long tours away from the city we need music even more, especially when we are alone. Having music as companion, it never makes us feel bore or alone. Moreover, it helps avoid talkative travelers and their meaningless discussion (laughs!). Apart from this, music surely has health benefits. Some of us are quite familiar with the term motion sickness. On long tours music diverts our mind in a pleasant way keeping its symptoms away. In many cases music has successfully prevented nausea. A study claims music is one of the non-medicinal but therapeutic measure to prevent the effects of motion sickness that occurs during travels. Reasons never lack to make us depressed. Even when we travel, we can suddenly get depressed. Music is a natural way to curb depression. It hijacks our mind to another world. It also helps minimize sleep problems even if the person is suffering from insomnia. Listening to soothing music while traveling can help fall asleep. So, if you feel nothing is going right on your way turn on the music, close your eyes and let the waves take you to the world unknown.
And from now, when you travel don’t forget your headset because “Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the Universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything”, said Plato. And in case you forgot, remember Nietzsche said, “Without Music, life would be a mistake.” You surely don’t want a mistake, do you?
