Travel Ringtones for the Travel-Obsessed

With nearly everyone owning a smartphone today, this is a fun time to take a look at ringtones, specifically those related to travel. There are hundreds of choices out there, something for nearly everyone’s taste in music.

So where do you find a list of candidates? Well, they are all over the internet but the best selections may come from Skyscanner, SongFacts, and YouTube. From the old (On the Road Again, Willie Nelson) to the very old (New York, New York, Frank Sinatra) to the more contemporary (Lincoln Highway Dub, Sublime), it is hard not to find travel music for everyone.

Maybe you want a new ringtone just for your hotels in your contacts. If so, Hotel California (The Eagles) may be a great selection. Maybe you want a separate ringtone for airlines. Lots of choices there, too, like Leaving on a Jet Plane (John Denver) or Come Fly with Me (Frank Sinatra).

Or maybe you prefer something specific to a location. So many choices here including I left My Heart in San Francisco (Tony Bennett), Holiday in Cambodia (Dead Kennedys), Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd), and Midnight Train to Georgia (Gladys Knight & The Pips). On a driving trip? Hard to beat Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf). Something more mellow? Try Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel). For those looking back a bit further, think about Get Your Kicks on Route 66, the popular hit from Nat King Cole. Beatles fan? Lots to choose from including Yellow Submarine, Ticket to Ride, and Magical Mystery Tour. Just can’t get enough Elvis? Check out Viva Las Vegas or Mystery Train.

Another option is to use a generic travel-related ringtone for all your travel contacts. One popular choice is from the National Lampoon “Vacation” Griswold movie series, Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham. If you are a worldwide traveler, your choice might be the Johnny Cash hit, I’ve Been Everywhere. Want a female voice? Come Away with Me by Norah Jones is beautiful. My road warrior husband’s favorite is Travelin’ Man, the classic from Ricky Nelson.

If you want a travel-themed song, where do you get them? The first thing is check your own music library. I don’t know any method to get free music so you may need to purchase the songs you like. Once you have the songs, it is somewhat easy to create ringtones. I use a free app called Ringtone Designer but as far as I know, it only has an Apple version. I am sure there are many other free apps out there for Android/Windows phones.

I admit Ringtone Designer is not the easiest thing to do the first time (or second or third). It’s a little tricky with some cumbersome steps but that’s why they created a video showing how to do it. The result: You select the song for a ringtone, select the part of the song you want – after all, you probably don’t want a 2-minute ringtone – and after a few steps, you have a new travel ringtone.

“I’m a travelin’ (wo)man, made a lot of stops, all over the world…”