From ’80s anthems to reggae classics and poignant jazz, Ronan and Storm Keating select the 10 songs that have provided the soundtrack to their extensive travels and international romance.
Dublin-born Ronan Keating found fame with the band Boyzone and has gone on to sell more than 20 million records as a solo artist. His latest album, Time of My Life, went Top 5 in the UK upon its release in February. He met his wife, Storm, while working as a judge on The X Factor in Australia and the couple now divide their time among London, Dublin and Sydney, where Ronan has just debuted as a judge on The Voice.
1. ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’—Simple Minds
Ronan Keating: I clearly remember going on summer holidays as a kid to Killarney in County Kerry and playing this song in the guesthouse we stayed in every year. We weren’t a very well-off family, so we didn’t go to places like France like my friends, but it didn’t matter to me. The days seemed so long and it always seemed to be hot so we’d go horse riding, row boats on the lake in Killarney and go see a singer called Joe Dolan whom my mum loved at the Gleneagle Hotel.
Storm Keating: I lived in Papua New Guinea until I was seven, in a tiny jungle village with two shops and a post office. My parents also had a holiday house on an island called Salamaua, which was off the coast of Lae. There were five other families with houses there so we’d get together and have big barbecues under the stars. I remember running along the jetty with my brothers, and this song always seemed to be playing and would get everyone dancing at these parties we had. Then we’d go fishing for squid off the end of the jetty, using spotlights to attract the squid in the middle of the night with lots of shooting stars above.
RK: I have a very clear memory of Shane [Lynch] playing this Bob Marley song in the dressing room before Boyzone went on stage on our first tour of Southeast Asia in the ’90s. We were these young lads from the north side of Dublin, I’d barely traveled and then all of a sudden we were catapulted into fame. Life was so dramatically different in those countries from anything we were used to and yet suddenly these people knew our faces and names and could sing our songs. That tour went to Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Seoul and I really fell in love with Asia during that trip.
SK: We moved to a cattle station in North Queensland in 1988 where we had a tropical rare fruit orchard and all us kids would muster the cattle at the weekend. Mum and dad had this old record player and they would listen to the John Williamson record over and over again. To me, he was the sound of Australia. The move was quite a culture shock. In PNG, we were always out fishing, running around with the local village kids, getting muddy and doing crazy, outdoors stuff. When we moved to Australia, there was a sense of having to rein all that in a little bit.
RK: When I went down to Sydney to be a judge on the first season of The X Factor, this song was all over the radio. I had a dressing room we used to call Club K because after the show, everyone used to come in and hang out and that song was always playing. I really fell in love with Australia at that time. I love the country, the people, the food, the atmosphere and the climate—and the Australian people welcomed me as one of their own. It’s such an epic tune and it really takes me back to that time on The X Factor and those years when Storm and I first met.
SK: You would expect me to associate this with Australia but actually it reminds me of the very first time I visited London to be with Ro in 2012. My girlfriends took me to an Australian bar called The Walkabout and this was playing, so I felt completely at home on the other side of the world. I think that’s when I realized I wanted to move to London. We actually played this song at our wedding last year. I was wearing a cork hat, carrying a blow-up kangaroo and had the Australian flag draped around my wedding dress. I went bananas.
SK: We take the kids [Ronan’s children Jack, Missy and Ali] to Switzerland skiing once a year. The very first time we took them, this song had just come out and we listened to it over and over in the hire car from the airport up to Verbier. It became the anthem of the trip. We filmed lots on the GoPro and at the end of the trip, I edited together a movie with all of us skiing and this was the soundtrack. It’s so perfect for people skiing and jumping and falling because it has that real movement within the song.
RK: We went on safari for our honeymoon to this beautiful lodge called Ulusaba in [South Africa’s] Kruger National Park as guests of Richard Branson. I always bring a speaker everywhere I go and I remember this song playing one evening when the sun was setting. It felt like we were the only two people on earth. It was so magical and this song just resonates with that moment, being so close to the earth and the magnificent animals.
RK: About 10 months before we got married, I went up to the farm where Storm was raised to be introduced to all the family. It used to be her grandpa’s farm and when he passed away it became her dad’s. This song was very important to their family because Storm’s grandpa loved it. Her uncle played it in the house when I was there and it felt like I was being welcomed into the family. I’d heard all these stories from when she was a kid about river rafting and snakes and all these crazy fruits they used to eat. There I was, a million miles away from where I grew up, in this magnificent place with streams, banana plantations and incredible countryside—and this was the perfect song for that moment.
RK: We recently went on a road trip to Margaret River near Perth in Western Australia and played this track looking over the ocean with the sun setting. I’d put the iPod on random and this was the first song that came up. It’s so mellow and chilled out. The sunsets there are the best in the world and we sat there watching it, sipping red wine from a mile down the road and eating organic cheese from the area. It’s very unique to have red wines produced that close to the water. Margaret River had been on our bucket list and everyone should visit if they can.
Got your favorite travel playlist? Share it with us on Spotify!
Photo: Greg Williams
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With thousands of breathtaking options on offer, deciding where to holiday in Indonesia can be hard work. That’s why we’ve come up with 10 simple questions to steer you towards your perfect island partner.
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Lombok
Best for: beaches
The beaches of Indonesia are the stuff of castaway fantasies. There are literally thousands to choose from, but the place that best combines extraordinary beauty with the convenience of easy transport links is Lombok – you can fly direct, or nip over on a fast boat from Bali.
There are beaches on the island for every occasion, but the standout for many visitors is Mawun. It goes without saying that Mawun has white sand and stunning, turquoise water, but the bonus here is the seclusion of an enclosed bay. The beach is rarely busy, and at “off-peak” times there’s a very real chance of having it all to yourself.
Another winner is Senggigi Beach, where can sit on the sand and watch the surfers do their stuff (or, if you’re so inclined, borrow a board and join in).
Jimbaran or Nusa Dua, Bali
Best for: children and teenagers
Older kids will love Jimbaran in Bali for its range of watersports. Close your eyes and try not to worry as you send them off parasailing, jet skiing, water skiing or bouncing along on a banana boat.
If you want to take it down a notch, there’s snorkeling and learning about turtle conservation.
If you’ve got younger kids, you might want to stay at a family-friendly resort to make use of the various kids clubs. (It’s your break, too, and it’s easier to relax by the pool knowing that your child is being professionally entertained in a purpose-built playroom.)
If you’re trying to cater for more than one age group, you might want to take a look at The Westin Resort in Nusa Dua, Bali. They have a “teen zone” packed with PlayStations and dedicated clubs for both toddlers and younger kids.
Ubud, Bali
Best for: wellness
If your holiday packing is pretty much sun cream and yoga pants, and you like to come back from time away cleansed and invigorated, Ubud is for you.
Ubud is Bali’s center for healing, and in fact the name of the area comes from Ubad, which means medicine. This is the place to head for the full menu of luxury spas, Ayurvedic treatments, acupuncture or panchakarma programs.
Ubud is also Bali’s cultural nexus, and you can easily fill your days with temples and art galleries, ceremonies and dancing, and great cuisine.
After all that, enjoy a hedonistic four-handed massage before settling into bed to re-read Eat, Pray, Love.
Kuta, Bali
Best for: partying
With a reputation for good times, busy, crowded Kuta in Bali draws a young, energetic crowd ready to party.
Days are spent swimming, shopping, sunbathing or just chilling. Nightlife ranges from places where you buy beer by the bucket to the kind of upscale establishments where the barman takes care not to bruise the gin in your martini.
It’s not the prettiest of places on the island, or the most authentically Balinese, but it has an appealingly brash, good-humored vibe all of its own.
If hardcore partying isn’t your thing, you’ll also find a few quieter, less high-octane places for watching sunset turn into sunrise.
Yogyakarta, Java
Best for: cultural experiences
As it’s the history, culture and ceremonies of a new place that thrill you, you’ll probably find Yogyakarta the perfect destination.
This is the city where Java began, a place that was a powerhouse in the 8th and 9th centuries, and an opportunity for modern visitors to enjoy fascinating Javanese arts and traditions at every turn.
Beyond the urban sprawl are two of Indonesia’s most astounding archaeological sites: Borobudur and Prambanan. The Mahayana Buddhist temple at Borobudur boasts nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome, while the UNESCO World Heritage-listed temple compounds at Prambanan makes for a stunning spectacle in the style of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.
Thanks to Yogyakarta’s surprisingly mild climate, a bit of exploring won’t leave you exhausted. That’s good news as there’s still the Sultan’s Palace to see, local silversmiths to admire in action at Kotagede, and endless pavement stalls selling the must-try local specialty gudeg: a stew of jackfruits simmered in coconut cream and served with chicken, egg or tofu.
Jakarta, Java
Best for: urban buzz
Beaches are OK, but who wants to spend a couple of weeks just lying in the sun? If you find lazing around a recipe for boredom, then your best bet is Jakarta.
From the aromatic, old-fashioned streets of Chinatown to the crazy nightlife in North Jakarta, you really can have any experience you like in this city of 10 million people.
You’ll find haute couture in Plaza Indonesia and the Grand Indonesia shopping town, but bargain hunters will be in heaven in the wholesale textile malls of Tanah Abang.
For a Jakartan market with edge, head to Pasar Santa on Jalan Wolter Monginsidi. This was a conservative indoor market until 2014, when it was transformed by a group of young entrepreneurs who wanted to use it to showcase their start-up companies. Now Pasar Santa has a unique mix of style-conscious places to eat, vinyl record stores, vintage clothing shops and cool coffee lounges. We promise you’ll go for the shopping and stay for the people watching.
Lombok’s Gili islands
Best for: diving
The Gili islands off the northwestern coast of Lombok are famed for their fantastic diving. The conditions are rarely difficult, the current is near non-existent, and you’ll pretty much always have at least 20m of visibility for spotting the first-class marine life.
Advanced divers will enjoy the deeper reefs, which have vast areas of pristine coral, swathes of hard corals and brightly colored fans.
A speedboat from Lombok’s main beach resort of Senggigi gets you to the trio of islands in around 20 minutes.
Trawangan (which everyone refers to as Gili T) is the funkiest of the three with chic bars and cool restaurants. Gili Air is more traditional and Meno is the least developed.
In recent times the waters surrounding Lombok have been intently watched by conservationists, so turtles are a common sight once again. You may also come face-to-face with a manta ray, reef sharks or even the rare Mola mola – the heaviest bony fish in the world, capable of weighing more than 950kg.
Not desperate to swim rapidly away from a fish that weighs much the same as your car? Fear not: there are endless colorful, pleasingly small fish pottering about in the shallows, too.
Lampung, Sumatra
Best for: wildlife
Lampung is an easy hop from Jakarta—take a 40-minute flight, or a seven-hour bus trip, your call—and you’ll soon be surrounded by what the World Wildlife Fund has called ‘one of the planet’s most biologically outstanding habitats.’
Elephants inhabit the rainforest of the Way Kambas National Park, while Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is home to Sumatran rhinos and tigers. The park is also famous for the many bird species that prefer foothill climates, as well as for several species of sea turtle that nest along its coastal zone.
While you’re in Sumatra it would be remiss not to give a few coins to help orangutans. There are now less than 700 in the wild, making them critically endangered. It feels unimaginable that orangutans share 97 percent of our DNA and yet could be extinct in 20 years.
The one piece of nature that you don’t want to see at its most magnificent is Mount Krakatoa. Happily dormant right now, the volcano holds the record for creating the loudest sound ever heard in modern history: its 1883 eruption was audible up to 3,000 miles away.
Nusa Dua, Bali
Best for: loved-up luxe
Many resorts in Indonesia are aimed at honeymooners, but the neatly groomed enclave of Nusa Dua in Bali turns the sense of seclusion and luxe up a notch.
Just 14km southeast of Kuta, it’s easy to get to, unlike some of Indonesia’s more remote beauty spots. (After all, nothing ruins a romantic holiday in paradise faster than three hours uncomfortably bouncing on a wooden speedboat.)
The beautifully quiet coastal stretch is home to an array of five-star resorts, fully mod-conned-up, with plenty of spas and options for candle-lit dinners on the beach.
Take a look at The St Regis, The Westin or The Laguna, which is encircled by a network of seven large, swimmable lagoons and pools.
Bali
Best for: when you can’t make your mind up
There’s a reason that Bali is the most famous island in Indonesia. It’s because it’s easily the best all-rounder, with a beautiful hinterland of volcanic mountains and rice paddies and some pretty outstanding beaches. There are so many that you can even chose your preferred sand color—soft and white in the south; exotic volcanic black in the west.
The Kuta-Legian-Seminyak strip is an 8km sweep of golden sand that’s well known as a weekend hangout for visitors who’ve hopped over from Australia. Now, however, it’s increasing in appeal to other travelers drawn to chic restaurants and designer shops.
Hardcore divers will gravitate towards Malibu Point for glimpses of sharks, tuna and manta rays, while snorkelers will enjoy Crystal Bay, where the clearest water in the region offers visibility between 30-50m.
Honeymooning couples head toward the luxury of Nusa Dua, party people take on Kuta and parents simply find one of the many child-friendly resorts and hunker down while the kids clubs do all the work.
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What is your personal paradise?
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What’s on your 90s pop mix tape?
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Which of these most appeals to you?
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After a holiday, is your camera filled with shots of:
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If your friends planned a surprise for you, would you like it to be:
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Complete this sentence: “The buzz of a big city makes me feel…”
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A friend tells you they’ve spent the morning aligning their chakras. Do you…
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8. Question
When you’re sitting on your suitcase trying to squash it closed, is it because you’ve tried to squeeze in: