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Why Everyone Should Travel with a Guitar

Why Everyone Should Travel with a Guitar

As you know by now, I am of the opinion that image plays a huge role in defining us as travellers. If we go quietly about our work and don’t take every opportunity to show people how awesome we are, how will anyone know? It’s not good enough to simply be cool these days – ramming it down people’s throats is the true path to success.

If you see a guy playing (and singing) Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” don’t you just well up with emotion? Don’t you wish you were more like him? Well, you can be with these simple tips!

Learn some songs

It’s not simply enough to travel with a guitar; you should probably learn to play it as well. You don’t need to learn face-melting solos, just a carefully selected arsenal of songs that’ll portray your sensitivity, free spirit and dash of danger. You want them to be wondering just who you are, and what better way to portray that than through the words of others (Warning: Don’t try and sing your own songs – they’ll almost always be bad and will lose any credibility you might have had).

Here’s a list of songs you should learn:

Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin’

Bob Marley – Redemption Song/No Woman No Cry

The Eagles – Hotel California

Anything by Coldplay

A riskier move – sing something by Adele, or an acoustic cover of a Katy Perry/Rihanna song – it could backfire, but if you pull it off you’ll be loved by all.

Ed Sheerhan? I guess? I’m updating this post in 2023 and he does seem to be popular, not sure if people think singing his songs is cool though.

Timing is everything

Once you have the guitar and know how to play it, you should think about timing. You can’t get the guitar out too early – anything pre sunset is a little premature; you need the atmosphere that only darkness can bring. You also can’t leave it too late or else the fire dancers will overshadow your performance. Another important aspect is picking your crowd. If the only people around are a family with young children and the creepy old guy who just finished frying in the sun for 10 hours, you’ll want to hold off until some people arrive that are worthy of your attempts to impress them. Timing really is key, because chances are you’ll only have learnt two or three songs and you can’t really repeat them, so you have to make them count!

There you have it, a simple tip to make you seem way cooler in the eyes of your fellow travellers. Stay tuned for more fun tips!

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Jon Algie

A travel blogger from New Zealand who hates talking about himself in the third person and has no imagination when it comes to naming websites.