What if you could fall in love with a country before even setting foot there? For Kyle Durnan-Kerns, travel writer, former tour guide, and founder of The Conscientious Traveler on Substack, the answer is simple: music.
Kyle has spent years leading sustainable travel initiatives and writing about how to explore the world responsibly. But her passion project, Travel by Music, might be her most creative (and addictive) endeavor yet. Each week, she curates a 30-song playlist from a different country, using music as a gateway into culture. The rules are strict but brilliant:
Every artist must be born and raised in the country
Playlists stretch across decades (back to the 1930s and 40s)
At least one song must be in an indigenous or native language
Why the rules? “I didn’t want this to be just another influencer-style list,” Kyle told me. “Music is sacred. If someone handed me a bad playlist of Scotland or Chicago, I’d be offended. So I had to hold myself to a higher standard.”
That higher standard means the playlists take time—sometimes five or six hours of research for smaller countries, and months for massive musical powerhouses like the U.S. and England. Kyle goes down deep rabbit holes, navigating Spotify gaps, long-lost back catalogs, and arguments with friends over whether Freddie Mercury counts as British (spoiler alert: he was born in Zanzibar).
The results are magical. Kyle admits she fell in love with Peru before ever visiting, simply by discovering its music. Beyond pan pipes, she found an unexpected blend of Southeast Asian influences, Americana, rock, and bluegrass woven into Peruvian sounds. “I released that playlist and immediately thought—wow, this is a country I need to know more about,” she said.
🎧 Click on the above link to listen to the interview or listen on “Mixtape Travels” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
For Kyle, music captures something that food, art, or even language sometimes can’t. “A good beat is a good beat,” she explained. “You don’t need to speak the language to feel it. Music is accessible, and it tells you what a culture holds dear.”
Not every playlist has been easy (she’s still waiting on an apology from the Netherlands for its “saccharine” pop scene), but the process has led to surprises, especially discovering indigenous artists in places like New Zealand and Canada. That discovery inspired her seventh rule: every playlist must include at least one song in an indigenous or native language.
While Kyle doesn’t often splurge on live concerts abroad, she loves listening to buskers—though she cautions travelers to be extra careful in cities like Paris, Rome, and Barcelona, where pickpockets target distracted tourists. (Pro tip: keep walking!)
Her years as a Berlin-based tour guide add another layer of richness to her perspective. From leading trips to Potsdam’s palaces to teaching students about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Kyle has always combined travel with deeper cultural meaning.
What’s next?
Kyle is excited to release her Canada playlist soon, and she’s bracing herself for Colombia, known as “the land of a thousand rhythms.” Off the page, she’s headed to Portugal for a friend’s karaoke pool party (which, let’s be honest, sounds like a playlist waiting to happen and a party I’d like to crash!).
Perhaps the best feedback she’s received came from someone who wrote to say they couldn’t travel at the moment, but Kyle’s playlists let them explore the world anyway. And that’s exactly the point. Travel may be expensive, complicated, or even impossible sometimes—but music can take you there for free.
You can find Kyle’s playlists on her Substack, The Conscientious Traveler, or on Spotify under Travel by Music. I highly recommend starting with Peru. Just be prepared to add a new country (or three!) to your bucket list.
Meet Kyle Durnan-Kerns
Kyle is a travel writer and former tour guide who focuses on sustainable and ethical travel. Her experiences range from beach cleanups on Dutch islands to cycling trips around the temples in Cambodia, kayaking adventures in Chicago, and street art workshops in Berlin.
She has conducted sustainability workshops for international schools worldwide, helping students understand the significance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the impact of their actions in achieving these goals by 2030.
On her website and Substack, The Conscientious Traveller, she shares practical guides, eco-friendly tips and tricks, as well as insights into the sustainable travel industry.
Her latest project, Travel by Music, encourages tourists to immerse themselves in the culture of their travel destinations through music. She believes that engaging with other cultures is essential for being a more sustainable and conscientious traveler.
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