Jan. 3, 2014 2:35 p.m. ET  GIVEN THAT R.E.M. was formed in 1980, it's not entirely surprising that the band's lead guitarist, Peter Buck, has released an album on vinyl. The catch: It came out in 2012.  Mr. Buck's raw, ringing guitar style was part of what propelled R.E.M. from college band to critically revered cult group to international phenomenon. The band made alternative rock part of mainstream culture, sold millions of albums and managed to stay together for 31 years. In 2011, its members decided they'd done all they wanted to do and amicably split. Music "not a living anymore, it's a hobby," said the 57-year-old Mr. Buck. It's one he indulges entirely on his own terms. Or, as he put it, understatedly, "I'm staying fairly busy in a casual way."  In 2013 alone he recorded multiple albums. There was a second solo record (literally a record—it will only be released on vinyl), "I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again"; a follow-up collection with country-inflected band Tired Pony; one with the Baseball Project, a supergroup that includes fellow R.E.M.-er Mike Mills ; another with the Minus 5; and a collaboration with Ed Kowalczyk, formerly of Live.  He also founded, curates and performs at the annual Todos Santos Music Festival in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Mr. Buck has spent time in Todos Santos since the 1990s and wanted to help local children, who have limited education options. "The one thing I can do is play music," Mr. Buck said. "I figured if I invited friends down we could find a way to help financially." Last year, the festival raised about $80,000 for the community.  This year's event begins Jan. 16. In the weeks prior, Mr. Buck took time out from a family trip to Hawaii to chat about packing light, traveling as a tall man and his personal playlist—in digital format on the road, vinyl at home.  The best part of touring is: going to cities. I like seeing people I haven't seen in a while. My blood kind of gets flowing hopping in a van even to go somewhere I've been before. Then there's the camaraderie. Very few people in their 50s get to go somewhere in a group and go hang out at a bar or go to the beach.  The worst part of touring is: like someone in Duke Ellington's band said, they don't pay me for playing—they pay me for the other 22 hours of the day. Touring can be a bit brutal. I'm 6-foot-3 and I live in a world designed for guys who are 5-foot-9. Airplane seats don't fit me, and when I sleep in the van I have to sleep curled up in a ball like a dog. When it comes to food, you end up eating something out of a paper bag that you would never eat at home.  I like to stay in: the center of a town and walk around. I like a nice hotel; I like the beds to be comfortable. I've slept in hammocks and cots, but the older I get the less likely I am to want to sleep in a hammock.  My favorite souvenir was: a first edition of a James M. Cain novel, "Love's Lovely Counterfeit," that I found in a bookstore in Kenya. I just thought it was so odd that in the 1940s someone was reading a James M. Cain novel in Nairobi. But I don't really buy anything when I go places. I'm trying to get rid of stuff; I have too much stuff.  I mostly travel for: music. I probably travel half the year. This year, I went to Europe three or four times, I toured the East Coast. My legal residence is in Seattle; my wife lives in Portland, Ore. I spend a lot of time in Mexico.  One of my favorite spots close to home is: Bathtub Gin & Co. in Seattle. It's on an alley, it doesn't advertise and can probably only hold 100 people. There's an Italian place called La Fontana Siciliana that I've been eating at for 25 years. I kind of tend to go to the same places over and over again.  My favorite hotel: doesn't exist. There's no place that I think about going just for the hotel. Honestly, what happens is I find a place I like and in about three years they triple the price and I find someplace else. I'm on about my fifth hotel in Los Angeles.  I've always wanted to go: hiking in Borneo. I've read three or four books on it. Unfortunately, the places I've read about have become more civilized—and I might be too old now. I'm planning Turkey and Greece with my wife and daughters. I read Bruce Chatwin's book, "In Patagonia," and I like his writing enough that he's convinced me to go places. It would be nice to spend a month going to the tip of South America, seeing the glaciers. Maybe next winter. I'm trying to make a list of places I want to see before I get stuck in my house or whatever.  My travel advice is: Whatever happens, it's not the end of the world. So we're spending six hours in an airport. We'll hang out together—that's fun! One of the reasons you travel is to get out your comfort zone. Sometimes you get farther out than you expect, and that's acceptable.  Wherever I go, I try to: figure out what the local people do. I try to eat street food. I like to be the only tourist in a restaurant.  The most romantic place I've been is: this place I go to in Kauai. For me it's all about loved ones and family, so I don't really care where I am, but I brought my kids up here.  When I travel I read: a lot of books on my iPad. I prefer hard copies, but I like that anywhere I am I can download books.  My luggage of choice is: this bag I got when [R.E.M.] was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I've used it for seven years now. I can fit in two shirts, three pairs of socks and underwear, PJs, a shaving kit and I go. I travel lighter than anyone on Earth. People see me and say, "You can't be an American!"  I capture travel memories with: my head. It gets harder as I get older. I don't have a camera. Now that everyone has to have a cellphone, I have one, too, but I don't carry it with me most of the time.  On my travel playlist is: a lot of instrumental music. Free jazz. Old surf music. I listen to a lot of African stuff. My record company is [Portland, Ore.-based] Mississippi Records. I'm about the only living guy on a label that typically specializes in African music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. I get a pile of African funk from there. The names aren't super-pronounceable—I might not even know what I'm listening to. Still, sometimes the Ramones at three in the morning is a great thing.  —Edited from an interview by Sara Clemence
The alt-rock guitarist talks about where he wants to travel, the challenges of touring and what's on his music playlist.