When you are packing to go abroad, the common things to think about are your luggage and what you are going to put in that luggage.
And fair enough, luggage is probably the most important consideration when packing to go away.
However, throughout this article, we're going to provide you with ten compelling reasons that you should consider Spotify (or another music app of your choice), to be the ultimate travel companion.
A lot of the reasons listed are relevant across multiple different apps, however, some of them are particular to Spotify and you will not get the benefit unless you have a Spotify app.
This article is not sponsored by Spotify, nor do we get a kickback if you sign up for Spotify, this is just quality information about a quality product that you may find useful.
Learn About a New Destination
If you're heading to a country, that you've never been to before, one of the ways to get feell for that country and get a feel for the country's culture is through the country's music.
Given the Spotify playlist feature, you can quickly and easily find playlists of songs that are inspired by that country, relevant to that country, or potentially by artists from that country.
In addition, you will also be able to find some kind of music chart, referencing the top music currently in that country so you can be prepared for what you may hear when you arrive.
Remind You Of Home
When you are far away from home common it is not uncommon to get homesick. At those times when you were feeling homesick, music about your home country, or music that people from your home country are passionate about is a great way to reconnect with those memories and get in touch with the sensations that you are accustomed to feeling when you're at home.
Of course, listening to music is no substitute for actually being home, and being with the ones you love, but it is a very legitimate way to connect with those memories in a way that you wouldn't otherwise be able to.
Connect With Friends
Though Spotify is not a social media network, it has many social features built in. The ability to share what you're listening to, what you're liking, and music you have found with people you know is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family and keep that sense of connectedness, even though you may be far far away.
Connect With A Stranger
Music has a strange capacity to help people connect across cultures and different languages.
So having Spotify on your mobile device coming out of your smartphone speakers can be a great way to try and establish a connection, or develop rapport with a stranger from a strange place, with the sounds from your smartphone. With some friendly hand gestures, you can start a nonverbal conversation about whether the music is good or whether they like it and see how the conversation progresses from there.
It is not uncommon to get into reciprocal music exchanges with strangers in other countries where you each take turns sharing music that you like, without even saying a word and it can be a great way to have a real genuine interpersonal interaction across a language barrier.
Help You Sleep
Whether it be from jet lag or an uncomfortable bed, an unfamiliar bedroom, or just the feelings of missing home, sometimes you need some kind of audio stimulation to help you relax and go to sleep.
Each person knows the type of audio content that helps them sleep the best. For some people it might be a three-hour podcast that just fades away into the background as they get sleepy.
Others may like binaural beats that are specifically designed to help the brain in different ways depending on the beat, while others may find stimulating music a great way to feel sleepy and nod off.
Regardless of what your personal preference is, the ability to put your headphones on or stick your earbuds in, and set a timer for the audio to go for a set of time while you try and sleep can be a great way to help you cross that threshold into the sleep zone.
See What Gigs Are Happening Nearby
A feature included in Spotify that most people never access is the ability to see what music performances or gigs are happening nearby.
This could be a great way to find out what's going on in the local area of the town or city you are currently in, without having to search for this information in other ways. Based on your location Spotify can suggest live gigs happening near you that may be of interest.
Pass The Time On A Train Ride
If you are abroad there's a good chance you will be spending long periods of time on various forms of transport. Whether be by flight, car right, or train ride, having a playlist ready to go to help you pass the time can be a lifesaver.
Learn Something New
The number of new podcasts being added to Spotify every day is amazing.
There are thousands of different shows you can look up on hundreds of different topics. There would be something of interest to everyone.
So just because you are on holiday does not mean you need to stop taking on new ideas and learning new things.
It's a great idea to keep new information and ideas coming into your brain, keep you developing as a person, and the things you listen to it will also provide you with great conversation starters for the people that you bump into on your travels.
Download For Later
One of the greatest features of Spotify, which is shared with many other music apps, is the ability to download content so you can consume it at times when you may not have the appropriate access to data or cell service.
You may find yourself in a location where you do not have any cell signal, or data access when you thought that you would, or you may be in a new country and not have had a chance to get an appropriate SIM card that you can then use to connect to the local cellular network.
In these cases, you could find yourself in a position where you have very little content to consume on your phone until you can organize access to cell or data services.
Given Spotify can download content to be listened to later or watched later, you will never be in this predicament without content to consume at the time that you would like to come.
Spotify Access Issues
For all the positive things that have been stated about Spotify in this article, it's important to warn you that Spotify may not be available in every country you go to.
Certain Spotify content is geo-restricted, likely due to licensing permissions, so you may find yourself in a location where you can't access the content you desire because of where you are. To get around this you might need to access Spotify with a VPN.
VPNs allow you to mask your current location and appear to the app as if you are coming from another location where they do allow access to the content.
Final Thoughts
Though it would be hard to argue that Spotify is more important than your travel luggage, we do argue that it is a very close second, in terms of importance.
The benefits that Spotify or another music app can bring to your travel are limitless.
As a result, we strongly urge you to download Spotify or a similar music app. Just be aware of potential access issues and have a VPN solution on hand in case you want to access it in a geo-restricted area.
Brought to you by Mark Karl