Hey Sallycakes,
I totally relate to where you are right now, I was in the same position myself early last year and ended up going solo. I decided early on that joining a camp was the right way to go in terms of being able to readily connect with people and form friendships (which I did). I went with a themed camp called Barbie Death Camp who are just awesome! I was also very fortunate to spend most of my time with a sub camp while I was there who were like my Burner family. You can request to join BDC, more details are here:
http://barbiedeathcamp.com/about - As it's a themed camp you do have to pay dues, but you get a lot in return which makes a huge difference when you're solo and flying in.
One thing I would do differently next year would be to stay overnight in a hotel when first arriving. I flew into San Fran and had great plans to drive all the way to Reno with one pit stop at Walmart. Needless to say I didn't get that far as I was too tired. I'm considering just flying straight to Reno next year which will cut down the drive significantly.
Also, think about when you leave the burn. You'll probably be really tired (I was) and want to stop off somewhere to wash, sleep and eat. I left on the day of the burn to avoid the mass exodus. I kid you not, it took three attempts before I found somewhere in Reno that wasn't booked out. The first two were these really large casino/hotel places (Peppermill and Sands Regency). I ended up staying in a motel called the Vagabond. It was really overpriced and rather dingy (not to mention the barn yard sounds!). I was so looking forward to a hot shower but soon found out it was broken. So lesson learned, I would book well in advance if you know which day you're going to leave, or call ahead as soon as you can to secure a booking.
Hope that helps! You'll have a great time, solo or not!
