Charmed to make your acquaintance ❤️

[Olivine phoenix]

Greetings to One and all-

I am 47 years old and I am an artist.

I have recently been through a year of surviving things that would take most people down.. including a brain surgery. I am starting a new chapter, and one in which I am completely free of all chains that have bound me before. I am a phoenix rising from the ashes once again, but this time my strength is unmeasurable.

To celebrate this.. I have decided to come to burning man which is some thing I wanted to do for a while, but had not had the true desire, opportunity and the time has never felt right. That all changed last year. And I luckily have a friend who lives in California and has a really killer motorhome to make it super simple. As well as he is just an amazing person ..and I can’t think of attending this with anyone else.

I know absolutely nothing about the camps and such. I have done some reading on gifting.. as that is a huge part of why I would like to come. I have many talents.. material and otherwise that I am eager to share with others to bring them happiness.

Being an artist my entire life I am also excited to finally be in one place with tons of people where I will not be judged. I look forward to being in an alternate universe.. if only for nine days.

Any help on understanding what the camps are about, how to pick one, can we pick one? Would love to talk online with some people ahead of time so there are people there I can meet. And any other suggestions are warmly welcomed

[Captain Goddammit]

Originally, people just came and camped. Friends would of course camp together.
Sometimes camps grew pretty large.
This eventually evolved into camps soliciting new members to help with whatever it is they did, or new burners soliciting camps to join, often because they think it helps develop a “sense of community”.
Joining some camp is entirely optional.
If you don’t, you don’t have to worry about that sense of community. Your neighbors will be awesome, you’ll find camps you enjoy hanging out with, you can volunteer for any number of things on-Playa.
I believe that’s really the best way to end up joining a camp, if that’s what you want to do.
Just go, and see where you wanna be, IF you wanna be in someone else’s camp.
It can be advantageous to be self sufficient and independent as well.
It’s Burning Man. It’s all up to you.

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to ePlaya!

Be sure to stop by the ePlaya Meet-n-Greet on Wednesday at 6:00PM and meet all of the ePlayans you may have befriended here. Further details on this year's location will be posted as it gets closer to the burn.

[TT120]

Welcome to ePlaya! Aside from joining a camp, or not, if you don't have any experience camping, I'd suggest a couple weekend practice camping trips before you head out to the Playa for a week. The Playa is pretty harsh and it helps to know how to make yourself comfortable in the outdoors. Learn how to manage a cooler and what foods you will need for the week. Of course, if you're planning on joining a Plug and Play camp that provides an RV and food and everything else for you then never mind.

[some seeing eye]

For me each year has been a psychic reset. There is an active DC "burning man regional" and maybe more regionals in your area to meet. If you like costumes they are welcome. If your friend has been before, they will have plenty of advice. If not they might engage their own regional. Burning Man art may not vibe with art school art, but its beauty is it is open source-social practice art, which is very current.

Also "burning man packing list"

[Savannah]

Welcome, Olivine phoenix!

Camps are optional, and you do not need one. (My first 4 Burns I traveled with anywhere from 1 or 2 friends to 20 acquaintances; this was camp enough.) The motorhome sounds like plenty of infrastructure, so it is completely up to you. I'd actually recommend you consider having complete freedom your first year. You'll automatically have neighbors to introduce yourself to (unless you make a great effort to be on the very outskirts of the city).