Burning Man!!

I’ve been trying to get to burning man for a few yeARS NOW AND MADE IT HAPPEN! WHAT A YEAR TO EXPERIENCE MY FIRST BURN THAT ENDED IN SUCH CHAOS!

After 3 plane rides I landed on the playa to an entire new world ecoysystem! Playa magic had already appeared when I ran into my old yoga instructor from Ondalinda in Mexico on a 3 seater plane to the playa! What are the odds? Then her partner greeted her at the airport in a badass art car and drove me to my camp! 🪄

Playa Magic Begins!

I arrived at my camp, Deoxidized, located at 2&D. the Burning Man city is shaped like a clock so I was at 2:00 and radial street “D” which was a great location at the edge of town and next to the deep playa where so much art lives. I met up with my virgin burn host and veteran burner guru, Tamie for a quick tour of our RV and to change before venturing out for the first adventure!

We met up with our EPX friends for a Badillac art car sunset dance party. What a PERFECT introduction to burning man that to be driven around on a moving badass vehicle with a DJ spinning onboard!? When the sunset the air chilled out quickly and all the lights of the playa came on! WHAT A SIGHT!!

My favorite part of burning man was night. Cars, Bikes, people, camps … everything lights up like an arcade. But it also moves and is an ever-changing landscape all around you! It’s magical!

It’s Like a Japanese Arcade Game

Riding your bike on the playa at night is liberating in the weirdest way! I loved being surrounded by music coming from every direction, vibrant colors of people and art (both moving and stationary) all lit up is magical. The only way I can describe this environment is like being inserted into a Japanese video game.

I had a plan for the DJs I wanted to see each day with times and locations all on a spreadsheet (not surprising to those who know me — I LOVE SPREADSHEETS!). I made it to quite a few but it is best to let the playa take you where the playa wants you to be. There is so much to see there just isn’t enough time in the day or night to do it all so be FREE!

Each day or night I ran into someone I knew or met around the world! It was so fun to get reconnected with friends (more playa magic!). One meaningful visit was when Ezra and Rachel came to visit my camp during our happy hour unplanned and unannounced and gifted me with stickers, pins and an incredibly special and handmade necklace (see photo)!

White Out Dust Storm!

Thursday night was a second sunrise evening full of biking all over burning man and seeing the DJs I' had set out to see! Polo and Pan was the most epically large crowd of the event with mind-blowing amount of bikes and art cars in one place. Upon arrival a favorite song (Dorothy) playing! YES!!

At the end of an amazing set and on a search for our bikes, I ran into my buddies from camp and ended up with a new mate to go see my friend ezra spin at Ashram Galactica! In route in the deep playa a white out storm hit us and we couldnt even see 1 foot in front of us! So Kunal and I did what any awesome person would do… we parked our bikes and jumped on an art car and danced it out! 💃 🕺🏻

We eventually made it to see Ezra play a super fun set and Kunal’s friend happened to be spinning right after him! (more magic, thank you!). We left around 6am in another dust storm with crazy 50-60mph winds that had made the tent we were in dusty. What an epic adventure home! We parked bikes, grabbed some champagne and went to a sunrise disco party with Carl Cox! YEP.

… Then The Rains Came

I slept about 12 hours finally and woke to a new, wet, soggy playa. Wow, what a change of events! My RV mate, Tamie was stuck across the playa and I was alone in the RV which happened to be my first ever RV trip 😜. So I slept more and the news started coming out that the event was deemed a State of Emergency with the directive to shelter in place.

Saturday I woke up and head the gates would be closed until Wednesday and maybe later. More rain was in the forecast so it was planned we’d all be stuck a while and food, water and toilets were being rationed. I would have loved to had the mindset of making this predicament an adventure, but unfortunately my husband had a spine surgery on Tuesday that I could… but would never miss. I started hearing of people walking out. I missed out on a lone female camp mate walking out first but wasn’t sure that was safe, an actual plan, etc. Hours later I caught wind of another few camp members planning to walk out and had a getaway car outside of the gates so a much better plan! I packed my bags to prepare but still waffled with the idea as I still had no idea what walking out would be like in the conditions of clay rivers that feet sink into or if we would really have a ride out of the playa. But I had to try!

We walked 4.5 miles barefoot to a road and there was a car, but no driver. I happened to make friends with another car of two nice guys in fur coats and an Audi who fed me fresh fruit and hot tea upon arrival. I managed to get a ride to Reno with them and a camp mate which was my exodus of Burning Man during a state of emergency. The bigger emergency was at home with my husbands health which I was grateful to get home to in time for surgery and care.

Playa magic is real

burning man is fucking amazing

see you next year!