one of 50,00ish people

[texaslawchick]

So yesterday lord_of_entropy left a comment that he was headed to the playa this year. Yay! He asked me to contact him with advice, and I will, but I figure that I'll lay some of my thoughts down in general terms here because I know a few other people who have talked/mentioned that they want to go sometime.

Coincidently or not, Graham's working on a production right now with a few people who say that they'd like to go, and the play seems to work well with the evolution theme for this year's Burn. (Btw, the show is at Diverseworks tonight and tomorrow, and Graham says it will be very good. I'll be at tonight's performance.) He's been sort of explaining Burning Man as well over the last few days.

Anyhow, I think the first thing is that no two Burns, no two experiences at the Burn are going to be the same. What I get out of it, what I see there, what I experience is going to be totally different than other people. Black Rock City is a city with about 50,000 people wandering around. There's no way that I or anyone else will see and experience everything there. So while my experience never really has much to do with Center Camp, for example, other people will swear that Center Camp is where it's at. Neither one of us is necessarily wrong.

So below the cut, in no particular order, are things to consider if you're thinking about going to Burning Man for the first time.

• Whether to go to a regional event first. I don't think this is necessary. The 07 Burn was my first Burn event, and I did fine. I have since been to Flipside, which is a Texas regional Burn, and while I like it quite a bit, it's necessarily the same thing as the Burn. Which is good. Regional burn events should have their own character. I will note though, that I did know quite a bunch of Burners before I went, and I had been heavily involved in the Houston Art Car community for years before I went. I don't know if that made me more prepared or not, but I don't think I had much culture shock going in.
  
  
• Whether or not to go by yourself, with small group, or with a large group. I've always camped with the Damned Fucking Texans, most of whom are my friends outside of Burn activities. Ours is a Theme camp of about 40ish people. The benefits of a group are shared infrastructure and expenses, plus having people you know (and hopefully like) around you. Our particular camp always builds a bar that serves cold beer under a shade structure of some kind. We also have a communal kitchen, sound equipment, an art car, a shower, a pillow chill spot, and transportation of all of our crap to the playa.
  
  I've also always camped within the village of Gigsville. Villages are collections of camps. I think there are about 400 people or so that camp in Gigsville, though that number probably changes from year to year. Because Burning Man is so big, the village structure allows people to pare down a bit. Again, there's some shared infrastructure, like the car-b-que and Uberman, and the group of people that you have the opportunity to meet on a closer level is greater. Gigsville is primarly based in California, but there's a pretty substantial offshoot in Texas. To camp in Gigsville, you have be part of Gigsville, so a random Theme camp looking for a home can't really call one of our mayors and get a spot with us unless there's some sort of compelling connection. That's sort of how the DFTs got married to Gigsville a few years back.
  
  A note about any group camp, no matter the size of the group. There will be politics. It's the nature of people and it's the nature of trying to organize people, and it's better to recognize that up front than to pretend that everyone is happy lovey dovey all the time. Some battles have been going on for years. Graham and I philosophically fight all the time over whether a collaborative effort (sort of how the DFTs operate) is better or a what he (and Gigsville) call a do-acracy is better for getting things done in a group setting. It always seems that some people end up doing more of the work than others. Some people will always be ready to help out while others go mysteriously missing when the heavy lifting is required. Some decisions were made years ago and have a long, complicated history, and messing with those decisions can lead to uncovering a lot of shit that didn't really need to be stirred. As a newbie, you're a little insulated from a lot of that crap, but it'll come up at various points throughout your prep and Burn, so be prepared for it.
  
  I've never solo camped before, so I don't really have recommendations for it. I know people do it all the time, and I know that they enjoy it. I imagine that the self-reliance part of Burning Man is pretty heavily emphasized for these guys, but I imagine that they also find a lot on the Playa from others.
  
  
• Isn't Burning Man a drug crazed naked rave? For some people, yes. For others, sometimes. For others, no. Again, the experience is what you make of it. A year or so ago, folks on my lawyer board were horrified to find out that kids sometimes go to Burning Man. From what they'd heard, no child should be within 1000 miles of the event. My first year was also my good friend A's first year. She was ten, she designed her own art project, and she had a great time. The adults around her did what we could to shield her from heavy drug use, but her parent didn't care about nudity. More importantly, she didn't care. I remember watching her on Burn night picking a lightsabre fight with some random guy on the playa, and she kicked his ass. I probably wouldn't bring an itty bitty kid, only because I'd worry about the heat and water issues, but after ten or so, I think they'd be fine. The bigger issue is to ensure that YOU'RE fine in keeping an eye on them. A came out on Thursday, after her father had already been there almost a week. He got all of his other distractions out of the way, and he spent the last three days of the Burn dedicated to her. I think that's a good way of doing it. BTW, the kids of Burners that I know are awesomely well-adjusted.
  
  As for drugs, nudity, etc. I suppose the best way of putting it is that tolerance is probably your best bet. Certainly I don't think that there's any outward pressure on anyone (or at least I've never felt it) to get naked and get crazy, but I think you probably should be able to handle other people getting naked and/or crazy around you. And again, huge place, lots of stuff for people to do and see, so if whatever is going on around you doesn't float your boat, move on. I recently found out that there are AA meetings on the playa, for people who are in recovery.
  
  Some people are shocked to find out that there are drug busts on the playa. It's federal land, and even though a lot of social rules are bent and broken, the legal rules still apply. Sexual assault laws, health codes, drug laws, drunk driving laws all still apply on the playa and people have been busted for engaging in illegal behavior.
  
  
• So what should I bring? There are lists all over the internet. I'd start with with the Survival Guide on the Burning Man website, and then google for other people's lists. Remember that you have to bring everything with you, but you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Everyone will have basics on the list, and then there will be variations. Water and shelter should be at the top of any list. It gets blazing hot and there is no water.
  
  And then it gets crazy from tiny camps that seem to be solely pulled out of someone's backpack to several room palaces that are more ornately decorated than anything anyone has at home.
  
  The RV option is one that comes up all the time. There are a lot of people out there who think Burning Man could be their thing if it weren't for the having to camp thing. There are RV rental places all over, and I've seen some NICE RVs out on the playa.
  
  Inevitably, I bring too much crap with me, and inevitably, I forget something important. Usually someoen else has the important thing, so it's not that terrible. And usually, i lend shit out to people, so bringing too much crap with me isn't that big of a deal. I costume beyond belief. It's almost impossible to get Graham into a costume.
  
  
• About the gifting thing? What do I do? So Burning Man operates on a gift economy. As mentioned before, my camp gifts beer to the playa. Cold beer, generally from Texas. People come into the camp, ask for a beer, and someone from my camp behind the bar fills whatever cup is handed to them. But there are all sorts of things that people give away: hair washing camps, yoga camps, steam bath camps, bike repair camps, fix it camps, make stuff camps, costume camps, etc. Some camps have venues to put on performances. Others have games that people can interact with. I've been on a roller rink, played putt putt, jumped on trampolines, had many drinks, slid down firemen's poles, and controled fire with my heart beat at various camps. Lots of camps provide shelter and chill spaces for passers by.
  
  As a newbie, you may not want to get too ambitious, though some people see a need and do what they can to fill it...
  
  I'm going to add to this as I think of more stuff and as the Burn gets closer. If you have any particular questions, feel free to ask in the comments, and if you have your own advice for newbies or others thinking about going to the Burn, feel free to post in the comments.