Musical Interlude

Hans Zimmer is an awesome composer and God knows I own many of his original movie soundtracks. Although quite good, The Last Samurai is not his best score. But it will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the musical backdrop for hours spent researching and then putting together the itinerary for what would be my longest trip ever: 4 months traveling around Europe in the summer of 2004. The film originally came out in December of 2003 and I bought the soundtrack the morning after watching it. I then spent the better part of the 2004 winter trying to come up with what I'd be doing traveling through 14 countries that summer.

More than a decade later, I can't listen to the opening track of this OST without reminiscing about those winter days and evenings spent perusing Lonely Planet guidebooks and travel brochures while drinking coffee and dreaming about what that summer-long adventure would have in store for me!