No…I don’t want to go. I’ve heard enough to know that. I’m far too attached to my creature comforts to ever contemplate camping out in a hot flat area in Nevada in the middle of summer.
So instead, I plan to inflict it on my characters in my latest novel.
Anybody been there? Have friends who have? Got any cool/fun/embarrassing/scary stories to share about your experiences, what it’s like to go, what kind of preparations you have to make, how hard it is to get there, ways in which my characters might get themselves in trouble, etc? Are there really that many naked people running around?
I’ve read quite a bit of the online stuff so I’ve got some idea of what I’m getting into, but personal anecdotes would be fun.
BTW, the characters find out pretty much at the last minute that they need to go, so they don’t have a lot of time to prepare. They also don’t have access to the internet (story takes place in a slightly alternate universe that hasn’t quite got widespread internet yet–don’t worry about timelines if this places it before BM started, 'cuz it doesn’t matter.) They’re all intelligent and resourceful people, but out of the four of them only two have any experience even camping. The other two will be pretty much clueless.
Most people are not walking around naked, but if there is a spot to embrace one’s inner stripper, that’s the place to do it. All body types are represented, but it skews towards the young and beautiful. I ain’t much of a cross dresser, but I’ve got no problem wandering around in a dress there.
You have to be really prepared for really hostile conditions. It can vary between 110°F and below freezing.
The art, engineering, and creativity are unsurpassed. The concept of only giving shit away is amazing, and has actually changed the way I think about the world. You make some really great friends.
Cool, thanks for the tips! I’ll poke around those Something Awful forums. I tried looking around the Dope and didn’t come up with much–I guess I need to refine my search-fu.
Now that I think about it, the SomethingAwful archives are member only, and probably contain the most interesting information. In any case archives have been down for months, which is classic lame SA behavior. I don’t think the owner gives a fuck. Not to mention quite possibly the worst and most arbitrary moderation on the planet.
One of my Burning Man buddies is a classically generous sort of guy. He’s a second generation burner and has gone to something like 20 of them. The very first second I pulled up to my camping spot at my first burn, he comes running up to give me a top sirloin carne asada taco and a beer, 'cause “Well people are usually hungry after making that long drive!”.
The next day some kid wanders into our camp. He’s a Mexican national, of questionable immigration status. He’s a student at Sacramento City College and has been gifted a ticket from his journalism teacher to write about his experience at Burning Man. The only thing he has is a single pair of holey sweat pants with his junk hanging out. No water, no coat, no shirt, no shoes, nothing.
My buddy pretty much adopts him, and gives him a sleeping bag and a sweatshirt. We end up feeding him and giving him beer and drinks. Our camp is not too shabby on the food side of things. We actually had pretty much a full Thanksgiving dinner except only a roast turkey breast rather than a full blown stuffed turkey. My buddy is a pretty good cook and I ain’t no slouch myself, given the caveat that this is camp cooking.
The kid stays with us the whole week sleeping on a massage table under our group camp sun shade. He somehow manages to pick up and bone some super hot girl from Harvard. Since the kid is broke, my buddy gives him $300 to buy a netbook with the promise to send him a copy of the story that he has written.
Kid disappears and my buddy never hears from him. Shit like this happens all the time at Burning Man.
Every once in awhile I see artifacts from Burning Man out of their element, which is sort of cool. I came across the “Metal Medusa” in parts at a fab shop in Petaluma:
I hope all the millionaires in attendance brought enough water.
I remember reading about burning man in High Times magazine, and to my naive 20 year old mind it actually seemed like a counterculture event.
God, I was naive.
I remember when Copiapo, Chile, a city brought to the world’s attention after the mine accident about 10 years ago, got a year’s worth of rain in one storm, and it caused massive flooding.
That “year’s worth” was less than an inch, because they are in the Desierto de Atacama, the driest place on earth.
This really doesn’t sound too bad for a half way decent Four Wheel Drive. I saw the pictures, and yeah, walking a mile in it would suck. But a 4x4 shouldn’t have any problems. Are all of these folks in repurposed school busses?
Saw some additional pictures of stuck 4x4 off road ATV. Guess I’m wrong.
