eep! *bouncebouncebounce* Burning Man!

[danaeris]

So, eastbaygreg apparently bought an RV yesterday and just offered to let me sleep in it. He also offered to get basic supplies for me.

EEEEE!

So at this point, what stands in my way?

1. getting a real ticket
   
2. a ride
   
3. packing supplies

Getting a ticket:
Anyone know someone who is selling? I'd prefer to try to get something cheaper than $250.

Getting transportation:
Enterprise will rent to me for that time period for only $138, according to certain websites. I'd be getting an economy car, but it should be big enough for me and my stuff.
But given how long its been since I drove, I'm a little nervous about driving all the way to Reno on my own. For that reason...

Does ANYONE know ANYONE leaving SF Wednesday or Thursday? If I can find a ride on one of those days, I'm golden. Alternatively, someone who would like to split rental and gas and driving with me, or at least navigate for me?

Packing supplies:
Hopefully the BM website will give me clueful info on what I need.

Is this a bad idea? Yes, I want your opinion.

Comments

[divineseduction.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think it's a moderately bad idea.
To decide and do it _this_ quick, having never been there doesn't seem smart.
How is your health? Will you likely be able to deal with severe heat and cold, dust storms and sustained winds of 50 miles an hour? People report that it is likely to be a windy year. Highs in the 100s and lows in the 50s-60s.
It could be a good and fun thing for you. I don't know. It just kind of scares me (actually) to have you decide a week from the event, and up and go.
Most of the ppl I know have been planning for _months_.
But mainly, I think it's going to be the seriously extreme environment, coupled with some likely mind fucks, weird freaked out energy, and lack of preparedness that makes it seem like a bad idea to me.

"Moderately bad"

[zyxwvut.livejournal.com]

All of the above, plus I seem to remember your saying something about it being irresponsible to miss the first week of school. I'd weigh that pretty seriously.

Z

P.S.: "Mind fucks" -- also, are you certain that you, specidifally, are in a good headspace for this?

[aberrantvirtue.livejournal.com]

I don't want to discourage you because you seem very excited...BUT...

Burning Man is really the kind of trip you plan for all year. You have to bring or make sure greg brings for you 3 gal. of water a day that you'll be there. You'll need to make sure you have enough food. There is NO WATER out there, and the closest food is a $20 trip off playa.

You will need to pack enough clothes to cover every possible weather situation. You will need to make sure you have enough meds to get you through however long you're going to be there, plus enough extra to get you through a couple of days "just in case". You'll need your first aid supplies, your lotion, and be prepared to walk everywhere. And you need to make sure if you have to pay rent near the first, you have to leave a check before you go.

On top of that, can your budget really support the money to go out to the playa? Can you *really* afford the sick days, knowing that if you get sick you will have to go in anyway, no matter how sick you are? Is the school going to be okay with you taking the time off? Are you sure you're ready to go out and spend 7(+/-) days in the desert? Do you get sunstroke? If things don't work out with

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<ljuser="eastbaygreg">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

I don't want to discourage you because you seem very excited...BUT...

Burning Man is really the kind of trip you plan for all year. You have to bring or make sure greg brings for you 3 gal. of water a day that you'll be there. You'll need to make sure you have enough food. There is NO WATER out there, and the closest food is a $20 trip off playa.

You will need to pack enough clothes to cover every possible weather situation. You will need to make sure you have enough meds to get you through however long you're going to be there, plus enough extra to get you through a couple of days "just in case". You'll need your first aid supplies, your lotion, and be prepared to walk everywhere. And you need to make sure if you have to pay rent near the first, you have to leave a check before you go.

On top of that, can your budget really support the money to go out to the playa? Can you *really* afford the sick days, knowing that if you get sick you will have to go in anyway, no matter how sick you are? Is the school going to be okay with you taking the time off? Are you sure you're ready to go out and spend 7(+/-) days in the desert? Do you get sunstroke? If things don't work out with <ljuser="eastbaygreg"> for *whatever* reason, are you prepared to have to ask around among your friends to find a place to stay? (Not saying that it will, just saying I've read horror stories about it.)

I don't want to chase you away, but in the "tough love" department I just want to make sure you've taken a good hard look at the costs of the trip (financial/physical/emotional) and are prepared to deal with *all* of them. The playa can be a hard place to end up if you're not ready.

Minor correction....

[kshandra]

There is NO WATER out there, and the closest food is a $20 trip off playa.

If she takes the bus, rather than driving the rental, it'd only cost her $5...but that does mean she's at the mercy of the Green Tortoise.

Re: Minor correction....

[aberrantvirtue.livejournal.com]

Can she actually get her stuff back into "town" from Gerlach on the bus? I've never taken it. (Otherwise it could get spendy to have to refil on supplies twice in a week.)

Re: Minor correction....

[kshandra]

Why make a stop at the Empire Store if they're not expecting people to shop there? ;-)

Here's the link for the service.

Re: Minor correction....

[aberrantvirtue.livejournal.com]

Very true I suppose. :)

Thanks for the clarification!

[dicedork.livejournal.com]

I kinda disagree with a couple of the other posters. If you can get past the major obsticles, and you're willing to pit yourself against the elements, come. The posters make *GREAT* points and I don't recomend coming on a whim *AT ALL*, but if you're pretty serious about it. don't let your own spontinaety scare you. Take the elements seriously, take their suggestions to heart, plan out a few plan B's, make sure you cover your ass, but if you do all that......very much worth it. My first year I didn't know I was going until about a week before, and it changed everything that I thought I was. Just make sure you do your homework and understand what you're going to be up against out there. Read the websites. Make sure you're bringing enough water, food and other supplies. When they say mandatory they mean it. You'll die without it.

If you rent a car.....make sure you understand their cleaning deposit stuff because you're not going to bring it back as clean as you took it. You can probably find someone leaving later if you're diligent.

As long as you understand that you are going into some of the harshest, grueling, exhausting land that God saw fit to put on Earth, and that if you don't take your basics extremely seriously, you might get into serious health risks.

And try to find a camp. The experience is only about a hundred times better if you're with a camp.

[kijeren.livejournal.com]

A very wise person once said "I do not regret the things I've done, but those I did not do."

Check and double check yourself, mentally, emotionally and physically. Check and double check your preparations and supplies. If everything is in order - go for it.

(As I understand it, you're only taking 1-2 days off work, correct? I also agree that perhaps a short trip would be a good way to "get your feet wet".)

good luck, hun.

[karenbynight.livejournal.com]

Is this a bad idea? Yes, I want your opinion.

Ultimately, that's for you to judge. But I'm a little iffy on the idea, for the various reasons that people have mentioned, plus a couple more:

1) It's my experience that dehydration and depression exacerbate each other, even more so if one is taking SSRIs. I skipped Burning Man 2002 because I wasn't convinced that I could maintain my mood there while recovering from massive depression, and I still think that was a smart decision.

2) You're a very social person, but you're most social with people you already know. You'll know a lot of people on the desert, but it's very different from socializing here: people have even more of their own priorities on the desert, and are even less shy about saying, "I'm going to go do my thing now. see you later." Though it's hard to tell from the press, Burning Man really is about a whole bunch of individual spiritual quests. (Somehow, the fact that a lot of those spiritual quests involve nudity, sex, or drugs confuses the matter.) It's hard to explain, but the bottom line is that you spend a lot more time alone (often in crowds) at burning man than a first-timer would ever guess. I'm not sure that that would fit your expectations, and I'm really not sure that you'd enjoy it.

3) My friend, one of the rangers, has been posting from the playa. The weather has varied from cold, windy, and rainy with highs of 65 degrees, to highs of 90 degrees, within about a 24-hour period. It's a particularly poor year, weather-wise, to show up without lots of foreplanning for weather contingencies.

go forth and be foolish sometimes

[http://users.livejournal.com/_duncan/]

Good idea?
Of course it's not a good idea. I fully expect you to do it anyway, have an absolute BLAST, and arrange long in advance to have a substitute fill in for your first week next year. Bring a bicycle. Seriously: the camp is more than a MILE in diameter. Wear something under your feet. Bring food you can store warm and eat uncooked. Chocolate covered energy bars are NOT it. Carry water with you everywhere. Be prepared to entertain yourself. The views are spectacular. On at least one night, ride away from the lights and lie down looking up.

Ticket
If you'd asked a week ago... two weeks ago... This is the time of year when those who had planned to go find their situations changing. People have been dumping even the cheap tickets on mailing lists, usually to be snatched up within half an hour. Watch (and post to) Craigslist. (example (http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/zip/40265986.html): Nick will give away his ticket on Thursday night [August 26th, tonight] at 10 pm at the Fireside Bar: 603 Irving (at 7th Avenue). The recipient will be picked from a random drawing and has to be there to win.) Budget the entire $250 and another hundred for things to keep you alive while you're there.

Cover your ass
Well, yeah, with sunscreen lotion. Bring enough to use it as a social lubricant. (lotion, not ass.)

Alternate tentspace
Flirt and make friends. There will be cushspace all over the place. Once an anomaly (dude, I brought my living room set!) it's become almost too common. If you pass out on a couch you may wake up with a blanket or a sunburn. If you pass out after fantastic sex you may wake up with permagrin.

[aoibhill.livejournal.com]

Hi! I heard from whipsnkisses and vampirequeen that you were in need of a BM ticket. I have one I am willing to part with for $185 if you can get it this weekend. I'm in SF. If you're interested, you can email me at catseifun @ yahoo.com.

[ericsilverbear.livejournal.com]

YUP!!!

A ticket is for sale here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/aoibhill/90100.html

She's good people!!!!

[ericsilverbear.livejournal.com]

Nevermind... She posted here right before I did!!! hehehehe