Burning Man

There is something about being out there in the desert that opens people, I always feel somehow more alive, my senses heightened, entirely possessed by the...

Worst place on earth. Full of weirdos. Dont get me started on the food.. The drinks were worse. Every cup was dirty. Full disclosure there was exactly one...

I was feeling kinda bummed reading all the reviews of comparison... how it used to be and what it's like now. 2009 was my first year and it blew my mind....

I really wanted to go to the burning man. It has been my dream for years. So in 2023 I finally decided to go. Bad luck I guess but, in my experience, the event is just a mayor rip off. I paid an out outrageous amount of money and I never received the tickets. They clearly state that if you do not have the phisical tickets with you, you cannot enter, and you might as well not bother showing up. So what do they do? They just don´t send the tickets. I had zero assistance and no answer to my many messages, A kid birthday party is better organized than this thing. Just pathetic.

This Event is everything IT ... claims to be ... Life changing, Mind bending & Expanding ... One must be self-reliant & able to navigate the unknown of Others & i do mean Others ...... If You are moving Forward ... Look Forward ... if you don't understand it now ... you will when you're There ....

We had the opportunity to join a camp, this year. I was concerned aobut the amount of people there, but shouldn't have been. It's 7 square miles of Playa and the equivilant of the city of San Francisco. It's layed out beautifly and is a true city, one that exists only one week a year. The art instalations are amazing, the things to do endless and the loving, positive attitude of everyone iswhat we all need. It's completely off the grid, so we can divorce ourselves from the outside world and live in the Burn. A life changing experience and like nothing else.

I cannot even begin to describe my love for this annual gathering. As I write this review, I have an ear to ear grin on my face as I am going home for my 7th time in a row. I would encourage you to get one of books handed out to participants as they enter the site. This will give you a good scope of the events being held. Choose what is of interest to you and then dare yourself to go bigger. Push your limits and be uncomfortable. Find comfort in your discomfort. This is probably the safest place to experiment as the community will catch you if you fall. You name it, it is here. Live a little. Check out the film, "Spark" if you would like to see this from the comfort of your home. But trust me, you will want to go as no book or film will really help you understand what this event is about. Welcome home.

If after hearing about Burning Man you have a strong desire to attend - here is my advice, based on attending every year since 2002. You are going to be a resident in a temporary community for a week or so, and there will be interesting things going on 24 hours a day. In my experience, first timers have a better time if they put considerable effort in to preparation. Having said that, you will have a much better experience if you focus your preparations on dealing with the challenging physical environment. The Black Rock desert is beautiful, but it can be quite tough on people. Read up on how to deal with the challenges of this physical environment - it is super dry, dusty, no shade, wild extremes of temperature, and often has strong winds. Nothing is provided by the organization except for portable toilets. Don't attempt to prepare for the psychological environment. All you need for that is an open mind. In any case, you are likely to be surprised by the generosity of the people you meet, and you will want to bring gifts to share. The nature of those gifts may vary considerably - for example art, crafts, commodities, performance, costume, or volunteering to help with an art project in preparation for the event. Keep in mind that a guiding principle for this even is that everyone is a participant. You will have a lot more fun if you bring your creatively to share. Now days it is hard to get a ticket. If you want to attend in 2019, it is time to start preparing, and time to start looking into how to get a ticket. If you have friends that have attended recently, ask for their advice. Note that there are already thousands of people preparing for the 2019 burn including organizing their camps, working on art projects, and building art cars.