1. Holiday Road - Lindsay Buckingham;  the theme song to National Lampoon’s Vacation movies, this cheery ‘80s ditty will have you looping images of Big Ben and Parliament in your imagination.

2. Leaving on a Jet Plane - John Denver;  a classic, translates to “I’m sorry I was such a god-awful bastard while I was here, just let me take this one last trip and I promise I’ll be a prince when I get back.”

3. Holiday – Madonna; twentysomething Madge urges you to cast off the corporate shackles and don jelly bracelets instead.

4. On the Road Again – Willie Nelson; hokey as heck, but this retro pick is right at home on this list.

5. Roam – The B-52’s; because “Naples, if you want to” doesn't sound right.

6. Vacation – The Go-Go’s; you’ll swear there are fluorescent swimsuits and bouncing beach balls frolicking in your ears.

7. See the World – The Kooks; add this currently popular pop/punk group from Brighton, England, to your list – if only to balance out #4.

8. Africa – Toto; the only song in history to successfully incorporate the word “Kilimanjaro” into its lyrics.

9. Same in Any Language – I Nine; This girl-fronted band croons about universality. She must be talking about Coca-Cola.

10. Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane; a harmonica-addled early-nineties CanCon fave, how could you not love the cheesy line “from the Khyber Pass to Vancouver’s lights?”
 
Reb Stevenson is a Toronto-based freelance travel writer and iPod enthusiast who will be deaf by age 40.

This story was originally published in