What jolts your mind with wonderful travel memories?

The smell of bergamot and the taste of Nutella put me in a generalized version of Europe. A Singapore Sling puts me in Rome in 1985. A particular Phil Collins song puts me in Ireland. I used to have a brush that I bought in Edinburgh, and every morning when I used it I was set briefly down on Princes Street. Hot, sweet tea puts me in London. I could go on ... !

The smell of jasmine puts me in Italy, and music that I heard for the first time in Europe took me back to that trip for a long time. If you listen to it too much after you get home that jolt of memories diminishes, but I always try to find new music or foods that can take me back.

I wouldn't call it a "wonderful" memory, but there's a certain acrid, industrial odor that always brings back mental images of Kosovo whenever I smell it. When I hear a certain tone of bell ring, it also reminds me of my wife's home village in Belgium. There's a neurological term to describe this phenomenon, but I forget the name. I seem to recall that odors are particularly effective at prompting memories because the olfactory cortex has a link to the Papes circuit, which is one part of the brain that helps inscribe memories... or something like that...

When I'm assaulted by a strong smell of diesel, I remember my solo jaunt in my 20's stepping out of my BnB on the Via Nazionale in Rome- and Mexico City's traffic. Coconut oil suntan lotion is invariably California beaches whereas Coppertone is Texas beaches.

I second the strong smell of diesel. I lived on the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg back in the days before it was a pedestrian zone. The delivery trucks and many vehicles that traveled the Hauptstrasse back then had that distinct diesel aroma, and it takes me back every time.

Strangely enough, it is a sound that brings back travel memories for me, the sound of a motor scooter. When I am in Europe I find the whine of the scooters to be a nuisance, but when I am home and hear one it immediately makes me think of walking the streets of Rome and makes me wish I were there.

Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" CD. Our family trip started in London, where we saw Knofler in concert. We then bought the CD and later on drove through Normandy touring the WWII sites, and through the Verdun region where WWI played out. To this day we immediately remember the trip and the beautiful countryside when we hear that CD.

Definitely the diesel smell! Instantly transports me to Germany. The song "Popcorn" is also an instant reminder. It used to play in the background when they were drawing the Lotto numbers during the early-1970's. I lived with an aunt in West Germany for four months, and she never missed tuning in to hear the Lotto numbers. She never won! :( Take a listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkYXoO1jO3k

1965, youth hostel in Nice.... Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition.. we were awakened early every morning by this music ( can't remember the time! ) to get " up and at em" and get ready to leave... but not before we did the chores we had signed up for the eveing before! Several months after return home, from our 6 months of backpacking around Europe, I was ill and really didn't care what radio station I was listening to.. when I heard this music come on...suddenly wasn't as sick as I thought..ran for the phonebook, called the station and was given the name for the album....still love it as it brings back wonderful memories.

For me it is usually the sweet smell of the air on a spring morning the transports me to some location or other in Italy or France. And it is always to a specific town or part of town. I just love it when that happens.

For me it is not necessarily a wonderful memory but it does transport me across the pond every time I hear it... In 1990 we spent 7 months living in Germany. We didn't know we were such RS fans then but we tried to pack light. We limited our 13 year old son to 8 cassette tapes for the car. About 5 months into the trip we took yet another road trip and during the millionth playing of the Led Zeppelin tape, I think I lost it. We were driving down a sunny country road that was lined with tall thin trees on both sides. To this day, when I hear LZ, I get these light/shadow flashes, I can see the trees and road clearly, and my anxiety level goes up. Does this count? P.S. Even though we had tried to pack light (nine pieces of luggage for 3 people for 7 months), the dollar to DM was plummeting the whole time we were there, and we only had 2 more months to go, we let him buy some more tapes!

Nutella takes me to the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Il Divo's Nella Fantasia puts me on the great RS tour bus on the way to Italy. Soft linen scarf takes me to Normandy. A great cup of hot chocolate takes me to the top of the Schilthorn. A glass of framboise takes me to a little table in a corner of Grand Place. Lovely choir performances take me to the chair where I sat in Westminster for Evensong, about 5 paces from where Her Majesty sat this morning.

Add me to those for whom the smell of diesel brings back memories. For me it is Athens! The smell of burning coal takes me back to Germany. Sure wish it were sweeter smells that were driving my memories!

Whenever I smell oranges, I am transported back to DisneyWorld and the Horizons attraction at Epcot (now closed). It wasn't the greatest ride, but it ws fun and made you feel good about the future. The smell of oranges always makes me feel happy and optimistic, and it brings back such happy memories of trips to DisneyWorld with my family.

Smell of coal burning = Dublin in the old days. Smell of sunscreen/suntan lotion = Florida as a kid.

Diesel exhaust is London for me (even if I smell it in Chicago). And Paul Simon's album "There Goes Rhymin Simon" takes me back to Salzburg, where it was the only album we had in my school's student lounge. That was in the pre-cassette tape days, even, so we missed our music - and it got played a lot. I try to buy some little piece of jewelry when I am traveling, so that when I wear it I'm reminded of the trip and the day I bought it. And if I'm complimented on it, I love being able to say, "I bought it in a little market in Spain", or "in a shop in Shanghai".

I put my pics into a "travel" folder on my computer, my monitor background is set as a slide show of whatever I put in the folder. Everytime I turn my computer on, I get travel memories from places I've visited. The only bad thing is I only have my digital photos in there. Maybe I'll start another topic on best way to convert old photos to digital, scanning one by one on my printer seems like it would take too much time.

The smell of diesel will always mean London to me - I've been known to hang out behind buses with my eyes closed, just to take a little trip! Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" puts me in a nightclub on the Costa del Sol in 1979 - 17 years old!

A specific song sung by Petula Clark. Every time I hear that song, from radio, my mind is transported to England. I do not remember the title of the song. It is a cheerful pop music song that people in England like. (When I will remember the title of the song, I will add it here). And, every time I see an air traffic control tower at an airport (any airport in the United States of America) I think of my first trip to Europe (it was to Germany). In that trip to Europe, my first emotional feeling of being thrilled about going on my first trip to Europe happened when I first saw the air traffic control tower at the airport (in the U.S.A.) that I flew from, going to Germany. I was travelling in a Greyhound Bus to that airport. When I saw the airport's air traffic control tower, I knew, for a certainty, that I would soon be in an airplane flying to Europe !

When I watch Liverpool matches and hear George Sephton do an announcement it takes me immediately right back to 2000 and my first time at Anfield. I can completely recall the excitement. We laugh all the time about the fact that in the stadium we could barely understand him but on TV he's loud and clear.

I had to comment on the mention of Petulia Clark. My husband was a GI stationed in Germany in the early 60's and was on leave to Paris one New Year's Eve. He'd met a local who said he'd call him up and they'd go do something that night, but when the call didn't come by 10PM Cliff set out to enjoy the holiday on his own. He saw a flyer for a "girl singer" playing in a small club and went to see her. She sang only in French and German. Her name turned out to be Petulia Clark and a few days later he bought her record album, all in French, that we still have to this day. Several years later when she made a name for herself in her native English he realized he'd seen a star in the making.

I agree with Nancy, every time I were my jewelry that I buy on trips it brings a smile and a mental trip back to where I bought it. I love reading everyone's responses.

U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind Album: Trip from Southern England to Scotland when I was studying abroad. Specifically the song Kite. Tasting Whisk(e)y: Reminding me of the first time experiencing the stuff in Dublin. Airline Coffee Smell: Reminds me of the dark night transatlantic flights and arriving early in the morning. Smell of freshly baked bread or other treats: Waking up early at a B & B in Northern France.

Whenever I hear I believe a diesel car drive by, it reminds me of the sounds of the black taxis in London.

There's a certain combination of coffee, milk and sugar that takes me back to my childhood in Brazil. Believe it or not, they would give us that mixture before nap time to help us sleep. And it worked! Starbucks makes a bottled mocha frappuccino that has the exact balance of those flavors. One sip, and I'm back in Rio as a child.

Interesting that this question evolved into a "fragrance" fest ??? In my case, THIS traveller's helpline forum jolts my memories of european travels.

Seeing poppies growing here in my daughter's yard in Seattle brings me back to riding my bicycle (borrowed from the hostel) along Lago Trasimeno in Umbria, IT and enjoying the fields all abloom with poppies... lovely. Linda

Stepping in doggy leftovers and Corfu. Stomach cramps and Turkey. Overflowing toilets and Venice. Reconstituted potato and Britain