Wandering alone at the Man.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:00 am

I'm curious as to how many folk find it a lot of fun to wander the night alone at Burning Man? My favorite thing in past burns was to get myself in the proper mental state and then roll out onto the playa alone and just see what happens. Some of my best memories are of being out on the far edge of the playa and having some short beautiful conversation with a stranger in the dark. Then looking back at the beautiful city, my only real home it seems. I often loved just strolling out into the dark after dancing until I could hardly stand and just watching it all happen alone for a little while getting the real feel for being on a giant ball lost in space. It was so trippy it's hard to describe how good it felt. Even when it felt a little lonely. I find myself wanting to spend more and more of my time like this.

Anyone else?

geospyder · Post by **geospyder** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:13 am

This year a couple nights I just wandered up and down some random streets alone. Got invited into many camps for drinks, cookies, spankings, etc. I'm definitely doing that again next year. Let what happens happen. Serendipity

lucky420 · Post by **lucky420** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:18 am

I love to go on solo wanderings out on the platypus at night! I really wanted to just lay down out there and star gaze w/ out all the lights but didn't want to be a hazard. The playa was pretty soft out past Larry Harvey man. Hard to ride the trike through at times...

If my daughter and I are in a group and she wants to go off and do her own thing, she just turns off her el wire and fades off into the night.

VultureChow · Post by **VultureChow** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:28 am

Unless there's something I don't want my campmates to see, I prefer going out with people. I lead a rather solitary life at home, so on playa I crave the dynamic of a group.

I do like having my own space though. Sitting in my hut and watching the world go by is lovely.

Post by **trilobyte** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:39 am

I'm giving this a nudge over to the Experiences at Burning Man board, since that's a better fit for this kind of discussion.

I enjoy my solo adventures on the playa nearly as much as I enjoy spending time with friends. Groups can be fun, but on my own it's a whole different world of exploration and discovery, as well as making unexpected connections with people. Sometimes I'll go near the man, but mostly it's a more aimless wander.

RedHeaven · Post by **RedHeaven** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:31 am

I was already going to smaller, non corporate music festivals before i started going to burning man, so I had plenty of time with friends and plenty of cool peeps to meet already. i actually kind of went to Burning Man to be oddly solo, er, ubiquitous.....Throughout the years I ended up knowing as much people out in BRC than I do at the other events i attend, but there is still a lot more space, so I got addicted to alone time at Burning Man every year. Not alone, meeting people of course, but on my own path.

Im female so it's a little weird to wander too far by myself at night but never had too much of a problem, and assault can happen anywhere. Still, a buddy system is good at night. I try to go out with friends during the rage hours, but I still end up venturing on my own path a lot.

Omitimo · Post by **Omitimo** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:05 am

I spent a majority of my time solo and on on foot. I am prescribed glasses, but for most of the passed few months I have only been wearing them half the time. My vision is not horrible, but lots of lights = lots of fuzzy blur, 'specially in a tired and/or altered state of mind. Anyway, I felt it was too much stress trying to keep up on outtings during the night with my campmates, whether on bike or on foot. I had fun as a group but sometimes I would tire of wear we were or I would feel they were not into my place. I found it was very pleasing to wander, bump into one or two other people and get into something with somebody I was attuned with. I did meet and have a lot of interactions with dust devils/angels/bunnies/ buddies, sometimes for a half hour and sometimes most of a day.
It totally surprised me on two different nights running into my campmates tho, in that sea of people.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:22 am

Wow I'm glad I asked because sometimes if felt a little strange to be always wandering off on my own and I've always wondered if there was kindred solo souls. I see now there are plenty. That makes me smile.
Maybe my best memory in three Burns happened one night when I was off alone and really wasn't sure quite where I was. Then a flash of pyrotechnic light cleared up that mystery and I found myself very near another lone soul. We had a very brief conversation about that intense flash and he started to walk off, then stopped, turned back to me, looked me right in the eye and said "I'm really glad you're here". I've rarely been so moved by so few words but I knew exactly what he was talking about. That so rarely happens in my default world and it had a deep impact on me. Just thinking about it now gets me all emo.
This year, if I get my ticket, I plan to go solo for the first time. I hope to know some of you well enough by then to look you up but I'm excited at the possibly of being anonymous at the Man in 2015.

ranger magnum · Post by **ranger magnum** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:56 pm

Trying to get all of our camp mates to go out as a group is much like herding cats. On the several nights we did manage to all make it out at the same time, we enjoyed ourselves. But even then we were only a group for part of the time. We all are in different mind sets: some are in relationships, some single, some are altered, some not. So after a few hours, everyone sets out in different directions to find whatever suits their fancy at that moment. I personally like being with the wife at night. We don't dance, but love the music, so often we are by the sound camps. Other times we wander deeper into Playa; holding hands and not needing to say a word, just lost in ourselves.

I was fortunate enough to be on Playa the week before the event, and it's remarkable how quiet it is. Each night, I sat on top of the RV, and watched the sun set. The Calico mountains are beautiful in the evening, and the colors of the desert sky are amazing. I did wander out in deep Playa before the event, but it was pretty lit up by the man and temple crews, so the effect wasn't quite there.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:39 pm

That's a nice response. It's nice to have someone you love in such a place. That hasn't been my fate so I just love everyone I can there. I have spent a lot of nights in the High Deserts alone so I know about the silence and stars. It's pretty wonderful.

It's folk like you that make Burning Man a very special place for me. Even if I never meet you it's just good to know you're out there. That's why I started this thread. Just to know you are all out there.

FossaFerox · Post by **FossaFerox** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 2:47 pm

It's tough for me to pin down a straightforward answer. I tend to default to wandering off alone and while I definitely need some time solo, I enjoy it less.

Last year my favourite night by a wide margin was when my whole camp went out together. But even that night I ended up solo as most of my camp mates called a quits before I was ready to retire. I wound up retracing our steps and reflecting, pausing only to watch the sun rise between the man and the temple.

Of course, this year I wound up alone just about every night aside from Monday and Friday.

Aurelia · Post by **Aurelia** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 2:58 pm

Tuesday , everyone was gone .
It was before dawn; and then early sunrise when I became aware of how empty the playa had become,
and how comfortable it is.

xoA.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:50 pm

If I have the energy and can go I'd like to stay late and help clean up. And just enjoy the quiet and to reflect on what I had witnessed. Like a dream that leaves its traces. I'm sure it would be a trip just to look on that mostly empty playa and realize you're part of a several billion year old story and you're just a tiny sparkle in time. Oh but what a time it was.

maladroit · Post by **maladroit** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:19 pm

kiboy wrote:If I have the energy and can go I'd like to stay late and help clean up. And just enjoy the quiet and to reflect on what I had witnessed. Like a dream that leaves its traces. I'm sure it would be a trip just to look on that mostly empty playa and realize you're part of a several billion year old story and you're just a tiny sparkle in time. Oh but what a time it was.

I've done it, to strike an art structure...you feel pretty vulnerable. It's an actual taste of that self-reliance that fades into the background during the week before.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:28 pm

I've always felt vulnerable, I'll be right at home.

My only concern is my age and health now. I'm in the 60s and I've got some health shit to deal with. But I've spent a lot of time in high desert alone so I won't mind that part. I really want to give something back to the Man while I can. What I've gotten has been truly priceless. If I get a death that allows for some time to reflect I'll be remembering wilderness time alone, the alternative college I got to attend in the 70s and Burning Man and my dog Ki. The rest is kind of background. The Man has one of the most amazing experiences of my life which has not been without some peak experiences. I've never seen nor imagined anything human could be so fucking beautiful and people could act so beautiful. We are blessed big time friends.

ranger magnum · Post by **ranger magnum** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:00 pm

I was on Playa in June working at the ranch doing some build out stuff. I finished early, so before I went home, I drove out on Playa and went over the RR tracks and followed Jungo rd for a while. Parked the truck, and just looked at the landscape. There was nowhere else I wanted to be at that moment. Made me realize just how small and insignificant most things in my life are.

I highly recommend a trip out there other than TTITD and Juplaya. Gerlach is a neat town, and a few hours at Brunos is time well spent. I could see myself living out there a few months out of the year.

kiboy · Post by **kiboy** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:17 am

Agree, there is something special about that place. It's the flatness and barrenness surrounded by that vast desert mountain range. I've spent gobs of time alone in High Desert but the playa is something else again. There's another place in Oregon that has a similar feel. The Alvord desert that butts up to the Steens mountains. In the spring it's a very shallow lake if the rains come. It dries off vast and flat like the playa and the Steens goes straight up 10,000 ft.
https://www.google.com/search?q=alvord+ ... 3B9F_7JI6w

Ano · Post by **Ano** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:30 am

I really enjoy going out in groups, and most of the time I'm attached at the hip to my girlfriend... but, honestly, my favorite moments seem to happen when I am alone. My first year, 2011, I showed up entirely alone without knowing a single person prior to landing on the playa, and I wish I could do that again... there was something oddly intoxicating about being a completely solo person out in the vast expanse that is Burning Man. Since 2011 I have come with others, but I always take a few nights to wander aimlessly on my own. The ability to listen to any immediate impulse is great!

ranger magnum · Post by **ranger magnum** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:58 pm

Sometimes I think it would be great to camp in a different location and meet new people. Almost like going for the first time.

However, I have such an amazing relationship with my Ranger friends, that I couldn't imagine not being part of that group. It's sounds so cliche, but they really are like family.

Wandering alone at the Man.

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