Looking for songs about exploring to add to your playlist?
With countries now easing borders after several months of pandemic-driven lockdowns, it’s finally possible to head off on your next adventure.
You are likely looking forward to ticking off some travel and adventure items from your bucket list.
Today, we’re sharing a collection of songs about exploring and embarking on new adventures. We hope these tracks fuel your excitement for new things to discover and places to visit.
But why exactly is it important to explore and go on adventures?
Why Is It Necessary to Have Adventures?
Adventures have significant benefits for our health, intelligence, and well-being. Here are a few of them:
It's fun to imagine yourself listening to great music as you're traveling and exploring new places. Even if you're going to a new state like Alaska, Florida, New York or New Jersey.
With that said, here are the tracks we’ve rounded up for your new adventure playlist.
1. The World Ain't Slowin' Down, Ellis Paul
“You gotta get gone, you gotta get going. Hey, the world ain't slowing down for no one. It's a carnival callin' out to you. It sounds like a song, hits you like scripture. You paint the picture with colors squeezed from your hand. Weren't you the kid who just climbed on the merry-go-round. Hey look, the world ain't slowing down…”
If you are having second thoughts about going on an adventure, this song tells you that it’s time to get going because the world is not slowing down.
2. On the Road Again, Willie Nelson
via Willie Nelson
“And I can't wait to get on the road again. On the road again. Goin' places that I've never been. Seein' things that I may never see again. And I can't wait to get on the road again.”
For many people, traveling is a way of life. It is what they live for.
If you are one of these people, this song might be a fitting anthem for your traveling lifestyle. It’s written for those who can’t wait to set off to see new places.
3. Drops of Jupiter, Train
via Train
“But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day and head back to the Milky Way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And then you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there.”
This song is about knowing what’s precious in life. Sometimes, to discover what is most important to us, we need to go exploring.
This could involve a metaphorical exploration within, like doing some inner work in order to arrive at our truth. Or it could mean literally going somewhere and exploring that place to see if anything in the culture, the locale, or the experience we have there touches our soul and reveals what we’re looking for.
4. Roam, The B-52s
via The B-52s
“Roam if you want to. Roam around the world. Roam if you want to, without wings, without wheels. Roam if you want to. Roam around the world…Without anything but the love we feel.”
This song encourages listeners to roam in any way they want. Considering that international borders are slowly opening up, are there any places in particular that you’d like to visit when you get the chance to travel again?
5. Born to Be Wild, Steppenwolf
“Get your motor runnin'. Head out on the highway. Looking for adventure in whatever comes our way. Yeah, darlin', go and make it happen. Take the world in a love embrace. Fire all your guns at once and explode into space.”
First released in 1968, this song is included in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It is about the freedom of the open road.
A number of young people throughout the years have made this song their personal coming-of-age anthem on their quest for adventures.
6. I've Been Everywhere, L.A. Rats
via L.A. Rats
“I've been everywhere, man. Crossed the deserts bare, man. I've breathed the mountain air, man. Of travel I've had my share, man. I've been everywhere, man.”
This song is about a man who has traveled to a lot of places. A large portion of the song is a list of all the places that the man has been to.
The original track was composed by Australian country singer Geoff Mack and was first released in 1959. Various singers and musical groups have covered this song throughout the years.
This latest cover was done by L.A. Rats, a “supergroup” formed in mid-2021, whose members have current or former affiliations with famous American bands, such as vocalist Rob Zombie of White Zombie fame.
7. Traveling On, Kongos
via KONGOS / Tokoloshe Records
“So long, my friend, my foe, my love, my pain. The road's calling out my name. Dreaming of La Boheme. Maybe I'll go to Barbizon. Or see a girl before she catches cold and she's gone. Or maybe I'll just travel on. Travel on.”
What would you be willing to give up in order to travel? In this song, we meet a person for whom traveling means so much that he willingly gives up everything he has just to be on the road.
8. Catch & Release, Matt Simons
via Matt Simons
“There's a place I go to where no one knows me. It's not lonely. It's a necessary thing. It's a place I made up, find out what I'm made of. The nights I've stayed up, counting stars and fighting sleep.”
This song is about inner exploration. With our thoughts, we can create a space where we can just be—where we can discover our true selves.
This can be a place where we can retreat to in order to decompress, regroup, and recover after struggling through the daily grind.
9. Counting Blue Cars, Dishwalla
via Dishwalla
“Must've been late afternoon. On our way, the sun broke free of the clouds. We count only blue cars, skip the cracks in the street, and ask many questions like children often do. We said: Tell me all your thoughts on God. ‘Cause I'd really like to meet her and ask her why we're who we are.”
Asking questions is another way of exploring. The answers we fin can often lead us to exciting adventures along unknown and unexpected paths.
This song is about this kind of curiosity that encourages a deeper exploration of the things we often wonder about, such as about God and our purpose in life.
[If you’re interested in finding your “why”, you can check out this article for helpful tips on finding your life’s purpose.]
10. Fly Away, Lenny Kravitz
via Lenny Kravitz
“I want to get away. I want to fly away. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
For some people, going on an adventure involves more than simply fulfilling what’s on their bucket list. It is their way of reconnecting with life itself.
In this track, Lenny Kravitz sings about his desire to simply get away and just fly. Perhaps you know someone who wishes the same thing?
11. Renegades, X Ambassadors
via X Ambassadors
“Long live the pioneers, rebels and mutineers. Go forth and have no fear. Come close and lend an ear.”
This song has a powerful message about not conforming to society’s expectations. The song reclaims the word “renegade” and uses it to mean those who have defied their physical limitations to excel in sports and life in general.
There is an element of adventure in working one’s way to success, despite all the odds stacked against them. The results are often exhilarating and inspiring.
12. Road to Nowhere, Talking Heads
“We're on a road to nowhere. Come on inside. Takin' that ride to nowhere. We'll take that ride.”
For many people, life is one big adventure. However, there are others who feel that there is no order to our existence.
This single from Talking Heads is about the feeling that there is really no great significance to anything. However, they’re still willing to experience that adventure.
13. Do You Know Where You're Going To (Mahogany OST), Diana Ross
via Diana Ross
“Do you know where you're going to? Do you like the things that life is showin' you? Where are you going to? Do you know?”
If you’re looking for a song about assessing where your explorations and adventures have gotten you so far, this track from Diana Ross is quite appropriate.
It asks you important questions about where you’ve been, your level of satisfaction for what you have right now, and where you’re headed next.
14. Everything Stays, Adventure Time OST
via Cartoon Network
“Everything stays right where you left it. Everything stays. But still it changes. Ever so slightly, daily and nightly. In little ways, when everything stays.”
There is a bittersweet reminder for those of us who go on adventures.
This track from Adventure Time reminds us that those that we leave behind also change. Although the change is sometimes nearly imperceptible, it still happens.
For more songs about change, check out this post.
15. Our Adventure, The Long Valley
“This is our adventure. This isn't our goodbye. It's only the beginning and time is on our side. We can send a postcard. We can drive all night. We can count the stars until the sunrise fills the sky and hides the moon. It's just me and you.”
Starting new things can feel like an adventure. This song pays tribute to those times in our lives when old things end so we can embark on new ones.
16. On My Way, Phil Collins
via Phil Collins
“Tell everybody I'm on my way. New friends and new places to see. With blue skies ahead. Yes, I'm on my way. And there's nowhere else that I'd rather be.”
This song is about the anticipation of going home after being away on an adventure.
You may have made new discoveries and new friends along the way, but there’s nothing more wonderful than coming home and sharing the experiences you had on your journey with your friends and loved ones.
17. Ends of the Earth, Lord Huron
via Lord Huron
“Oh, there's a river that winds forever. I'm gonna see where it leads. Oh, there's a mountain that no man has mounted. I'm gonna stand on the peak. Out there's a land that time don't command. Wanna be the first to arrive. No time for ponderin' why I'm a-wanderin'. Not while we're both still alive.”
This song is about someone who is describing all the wondrous places that he’s planning to explore. The places sound exciting, and many of them still uncharted.
The singer does not let anything stop him from embarking on an adventure to find these places.
Final Thoughts
What’s your favorite adventure?
We hope that the songs featured in this collection serve as inspiration to start exploring and going on new adventures again.
The world awaits you.
If you’re interested in other collections of songs for specific topics, here are some that you might like:
Finally, if you want to use these songs to make a lasting change to your life, then check out these 100 LIFE GOALS that can help you wake up each morning with a sense of enthusiasm about making progress toward what's important..
