Recently my family and I went on a driving holiday up the East coast of Australia. We traveled 1985 kilometres, saw kangaroos, dolphins, whales, blue tongue lizards, beach, bushland, highway, dirt tracks, sunrise, sunset, caravans and high-rise buildings. It was brilliant.

But there is one thing we didn't find often in our accommodation along the way. A stereo.

During our travels we stayed in six apartments. Fortunately as we were travelling outside peak season, we were able to find some quite premium places to stay at significantly reduced cost. Great views, plenty of space, modern appliances, flat screen TVs (in one case three of them!) - but only one apartment had a stereo system.

I realised many years ago that when traveling, even more essential than clean clothes is the inclusion of a headphone jack to RCA connector - so that your portable CD player (in the "old days") or an iPhone / smartphone could be easily connected into the auxillary input of any stereo you find on your travels. A great way to unwind and feel a bit more "at home" in otherwise unfamiliar surroundings.

Dutifully I took my headphone to RCA connector on our trip but it was rarely used.

At first it crossed my mind that the lack of a stereo in each apartment could be due to a lack of space. But no. These destinations had ample space, plenty of vacant shelving and access to powerpoints.

Could it be to keep noise down? Surely not. Are the common massive televisions expected to be kept at a low volume any differently?

With the transportability of music now a reality and not a luxury, I remain surprised.

In one stopover, we had a great time listening to a selection of chilled music from my tinny iPhone speaker while we relaxed at the end of the day. It truly became the modern transistor radio.

I don't expect my readership extends broadly into accommodation-service-provider territory, but if I happen to do so I urge you to consider placing a small stereo system in each room you offer.

"We're all going on a silent holiday. No more music for a week or two...".