Don't turn the whole thing into past tense. Only turn the statements that you've done once and won't do again past tense. Dont change the tense if you know you'll do it more like this:
On those days when I'm getting ready to travel, even if it is only a few hours to New York City, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift's songs get me excited, and remind me that the simple joys of driving with the windows down need to be cherished
Also organize the examples by the tenses, so start with the past tense statements and when you're done go to the tense you do have.
Mentioning headphones doesn't add anything to your essay and it also sounds a little awkward as well
Changing a to one adds more emphasis to statement.
For formal english, only use conjunctions (and/or/but/yet/etc) to attach two sentences/clauses together.
