Burning Man trip

"Check out the Woolly mammoth art sculpture!"

I rode around everywhere trying to find it. Philosophically, was it a wild goose chase, the mammoth was something that has been extinct for millions of years. I was a searching for something that was no longer there. As I pedalled across the Playa, hoping to find something, I questioned whether or not this was a euphemism for something.

I passed butterflies, statues, hedgehogs and even elephants. At each exhibit I stood and squinted and internally asked "Is this it?". Eventually I found the booth, the 'Talk to God telephone booth", it was ringing. I pulled up and picked up the headset. Click. "Hi". "Hi, there", the voice sounded female. Progressive. "Is this god?". "Sure is". "Do you know if there's a woolly mammoth here at Burning Man?". "Yes, is the big fluro blob with the trunk in the air.".

I paused, that was one of the first art sculptures I'd seen. It had been there all a long, and yet I had spent the entire afternoon cycling around looking for something that was always there. Then it clicked, this was the gift from outside of the playa. Chasing to impress, to prove, to validate. Instead of just being.

"Anything else I can help you with?". "No. I'm good, there's another guy that's just pulled up who wants to talk to you."

Another burn, I've come out understanding the areas I need to improve, the areas I need to foster, and the areas I need to let go.

Reno Roadtripping

I still can't believe I visited Canada without trying Tim Hortons. One of the many missed opportunities I will rue. There's exactly five people who have made their way from Hong Kong to Vancouver who will continue onto Reno, eventually into Black Rock City. We take the 7:20 pm flight from Vancouver, to Reno via San Francisco. The legs are short, but given the jet lag, the trip feels long. We arrived into Reno and check into the hotel just after midnight. It's a long day but we still find time to play the tables. Two cities, two casinos.

We start mid morning and the owner of the truck and the trailer meet up in the hotel car park. The trailer brings back memories from the last Burn. Technically I didn't stay in the trailer, but I did have to drive it back last time we were out here. This trip would be the same, I would drive it in and be responsible for driving it back out. The truck is a little different this year. By different, I mean older. Real old.

It takes me a while to get used to this car. The gear box is not intuitive, there's a cassette player and the indicators do not auto-cancel. There's no indicator of what gear you're in, or any indication of what is happening. It's all coming back to me, the trailer is heavy and responds with latency. I check myself and re-learn driving on the other side of the road. We find the nearest Walmart and load up on supplies, one of my favourite parts of the trip, strolling the isles of an American supermarket.

We leave the carpark at 2 pm and start off on the journey - I check everything, the dash is fine. I always forget how the pedal hand break works. Pressed means off? Right? We drive along the highway, the car is slow, I floor it and it barely responds. Cruising at a pedestrian rate of 50 mph I comment that I'm flooring the accelerator and that the car feels sluggish, "It's like I'm driving through cement!". Not five minutes out of Walmart and from the passenger seat I hear a laugh followed by "I think he was pointing at our car". Immediately I see grey smoke billowing out of the left hand side of the bonnet. I pull over on the highway to the shoulder. The car is spewing out smoke and there's oil dripping from under the hood. That's not good. We contact the car owner, he's 90 minutes away. We wait by the side of the road and attempt to open the hood.

It's at this point in time it dawns on me. Pressed means on. I google this. Yep, it's official, I've been driving the last couple of miles with the hand break on. I sheepishly admit this two the other two people. Ugh, how stupid of me! We sit by the side of the road and eventually pop the hood, the car has overheated. I have successfully perpetuated the stereotype that Asians are bad drivers by blowing up a truck. We pass time by sucking in roadside pollution, spending time trying to open the hood, followed by spending time trying to close the hood (this car really is old). This proactiveness all stops the minute a sofa flies off the back of a passing truck and lands 10 metres and rolls along the highway. The two of us look at each other and silently acknowledge that we just missed on being struck by a rogue sofa and sit back down on the barrier by the side of the road. Highway patrol come and visit us, finally at 4 pm, the owners return with a new truck. There's two kids in the back, we're being lent their personal car.

Take 2. We leave Reno and restart our road trip just after 4:00 pm. The drive is boring, for two and a half hours it's mostly straight road, there are two turns, two left turns (we actually missed the first turn). We lose cellular reception as we make the final turn into Black Rock City, arriving at 6:40 pm. Unfortunately we have hit traffic, we reach the first stage to pick up the vehicle pass at 9 pm. We meet the greeters at 10:00 pm. We have arrived. Burning Man 2019. We finally reach our camp Entheos. 4F. My second burn.

Burning Man 2016: Carnival of Mirrors

Burning Man; Where do I even start?

#Dusty #Player #Amazing #OMG #humbling #indelible #lifealtering #seeyounextyear #LOL #seeyoueverotheryear #burners #player #theman #decommodification #OMFG #lacalaca #robotheart #newfriends #offthegrid #shirtcocking #needashower #dust #cold

So key points. It's as close to Never Never Land as you can get. It's whatever you want it to be. Music. Party. Art. Self Exploration. Self Improvement. I'll stop now as nothing I write will do justice to the event.

I left with changed views, feeling refreshed and energised but also sad and empty at the same time - Back to Reality.

Burning Man: The preparation

I have procrastinated and delayed blogging this entry for the last six months. The trepidation stems from my fear of eternalising my time Black Rock City and that I would not be able to capture Burning Man properly. Ultimately, it would be an injustice to my experiences. Even now, I find it hard to describe that one week. Each account is different. Different stories, different anecdotes, regardless of who I speak to it it all ends with the same prescription "You have to go and experience it for yourself!".

(Noun) Burner: Attendee of Burning Man.

Hong Kong/Sydney

After failed attempts to secure tickets online during the main and OMG ticket releases my sister managed to source two tickets to Burning Man on the secondary market for the princely sum of 800 AUD per ticket (the RRP for a ticket was 390 USD + 10% tax, works out to be approximately 550 AUD). There was always a risk that the tickets were fake but we booked in our two weeks of leave and prepared for a mini-family adventure. In addition to traveling with my sister, some of my closest friends from Hong Kong, Sydney and San Francisco would also make the trip to Black Rock City.

We spent almost a month preparing for this trip. For a lot of us this was our first "burn". The difference between this trip and other trips was the Burning Man law of "Leave no trace" and the concept of MOOP which is difficult because 51 weeks of the year, Black Rock City is a desert. There aren't any convenience stores, or hotels, or restaurants, or concept of money. Which mean we had to arrange cars, water, food, tents, beds, bikes, torches, clothing, survival kits. I'll stop here because the list was insanely long and could easily be re-titled as "Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit", well minus the chainsaw and shotgun.

I read somewhere that separating a day's worth of clothing into Ziploc bags was the way to prevent dust getting everywhere. So I packed everything into Ziploc bags. In addition to clothing that "would be absolutely ruined and most likely thrown out after" it also mean a lot of trips to outdoor stores and a lot of online shopping (3000 USD on Amazon). It also meant that my sister had 2 weeks to learn how to ride a bike.

San Francisco

28th August, 22:15: The Hong Kong contingent arrive into San Francisco International Airport. First item on our agenda, car hire. Not any car hire, the biggest cars available, Ford Expeditions. We had planned two days in San Francisco for logistics and arranging provisions, collecting the massive Amazon order that had been sent to our friend's workplace. Auditing the massive Amazon order that had been sent to our friend's workplace. The official order:

2 of: Kodiak 6044 8 person tents
1 of: ArcOne G­ACT­B1204 Action Safety Goggles
1 of: Glow Stick Party Pack
5 of: Wheel Brightz ­ Pink
2 of: Homeleo 2m 20 LEDs Cool White LED Strings 3xAA Battery Operated)
3 of: Dude Wipes ­ Flushable Wipes, with Aloe Vera, Singles for Travel (30 Each, Pack of Two)
5 of: Brightest Bike Light on Amazon ­ Comes With FREE TAIL LIGHT
5 of: Cosmic Brightz ­ Multicolored
5 of: Ultra Bright LED Headlamp Flashlight­
1 of: ArcOne G­FLY­B1202 The Fly Safety Goggles
2 of: AAA 121­Piece Road Trip First Aid Kit
2 of: Visol Products Raven Liquor Flask
1 of: AVEX Brazos Autoseal Stainless Steel Water Bottle, 24­Ounce, Matte Black
1 of: UV Glow Blacklight Neon Face and Body Paint ­ 0.34oz Case of 24
2 of: Homeleo 3 Meters 30 LED AA Battery Operated Pink LED Silver Wire String
2 of: Camo Coll Outdoor Anti­mosquito Mask Hat with Head Net Mesh Face
1 of: Flents Quiet Please Foam Ear Plugs 50­Pair
2 of: Camping LED Lantern,TaoTronics® Camping lantern ­Bright in 60LM but
1 of: Coleman Biowipes, 30 Count
5 of: Master Lock 8143D Self Coiling Cable Lock, 4­Feet x 5/16­inch
2 of: Khataland YoFoMat ­ Best Travel Yoga Mat ­ Green, Extra Long 72", 1/6"
4 of: Coleman Trinidad Warm­Weather Sleeping Bag
1 of: Purell Adv Aloe 8oz Pump (2 Pack)
4 of: Coleman ComfortSmart(TM) Cot
4 of: Coleman Oversized Quad Chair with Cooler
5 of: TETON Sports Camp Pillows
1 of: Multipack Chap Sticks

Sacramento

30th August, 12:20: Both Expeditions are packed, luggage, roof racks and 14 burners. We haven't left a lot of space for food. We exist San Francisco and pull into Sacramento Walmart and Dicks Sporting goods. Next items on the agenda: bikes, food and water. We do the math, our tents need 40 gallons of water, seems like a lot, but nobody wants to die of thirst. We attach the bikes to the back of the car, the cars don't drive with agility, they're big, slow and carry a lot of additional weight.

30th August, 16:00: We have In and Out burgers, and leave Sacramento. We're a bit behind schedule but should get into Black Rock City before 11 pm.

Reno

30th August, 21:12: Finally made it to Reno! We have a decision to make, it's quite late, do we just get a hotel for the night or keep driving. Reports are that the traffic from Reno into Black Rock City is heavy and delays are to be expected. It's also a desert so we will need to pitch tents in darkness. Group decides to push on.

Somewhere between Reno and Gerlach

30th August, 11:06: We're in the sticks bro, there's no more cellular reception, what's worse there's traffic. There's a procession of cars with there engines off on a single lane road. Darkness and and the distant sound of murmur and chatter, we've gone through a lot of road trip snacking, there's already a lot of trash we can't dispose of. Mental note, Walmart's Peanut Butter Trail Mix. Divine.

31st August, 12:41: We alternate drivers. This is painful, we will drive for 1 km and the sit for an hour. Occasionally we will see cars u-turn and drive back to reno. It's tempting.

31st August, 3:12: We're moving now. The car is pretty lifeless.

31st August, 5:35: There's a lot of cars, red tail lights leading up to Black Rock City. We've made it! It's cold. Dawn is breaking over a sea of break lights.

Black Rock City

31st August, 6:06: Half asleep, I'm driving. Burning ManTicket inspection. Moment of truth, our tickets scan and ... they're real.

The other car is in front of us, we see our friends being urged out of the car. They step out. Now they're rolling in the dust. First time burners have to roll in the player dust as part of the initiation. We comply. The gate keepers hug us, they're dusty, I'm dusty. That would be the last time I'm clean and dust free - Welcome to Burning Man.

Currently reading: "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"