FIRST TIME BURNER- UK

[Freeitslara]

Entering this space with openness and excitement for this unique opportunity of joining you all, existing burners, new burners. I am eager to connect and bring myself to this event and just be unapologetically me in expression. Change is needed more than ever, love love love will be in abundance, art and expression will bloom like it never has before.
Sending love,
Lara

[Elliot]

Welcome to the madhouse, Lara.

And please feel free to expand on your personal theme of participation, which you expressed so artfully and excitedly.

[Freeitslara]

Bursting smiling energy to all first and foremost
A helping and empathic ear to all temple visitors
But mostly to learn from others and connect with all walks of life, experience, and to create better change in the future.

As a first time burner I imagine it a little more tricky to know exactly without having the previous burn experience…however coming into this event willing, open, accepting, and seeing the greater good of this community and what it is…I hope this suffices.

[Elliot]

Lara, you are wonderfully perceptive about your first Burn.
In fact, this is often the second thing I say to "Burgins" (Burner-virgins).

For most of us, the first year is largely for acclimation to life in Black Rock City – it certainly was for me. Sensory overload is normal.
And I suggest they not volunteer for any official department with a rigid shift schedule. And most departments even require one previous year.

That said, since you mention the Temple, you might look into the Temple Guardians, with an eye on the last couple days of the event, teaming up with an experienced Guardian.
[I have no experience with the Temple Guardians, but I have a local (default world) friend who joined them her first year, tagging along with a friend of her own who had done it before, and this seemed to work all right for my friend.]

Come to think of it... I like the concept of "apprenticing". Burning Man is that different from anything else on Earth, yes.

Of course, you can simply go to the Temple like any Participant and interact with others.

Even if you feel drawn to one location or activity, remember to circulate extensively throughout BRC to see and learn and meet and so-on-and-so-forth.

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to ePlaya!

[Freeitslara]

Elliot thank you for all this positivity and recommendations.

I have put myself forward to volunteer as a temple guardian and coming from a psychology background and having volunteered before I thought it be fitting and satiating for me. I am totally accepting of apprenticing too and getting involved in some way or another once I have soaked up all that burning man is. Equally happy to give my time, I do believe it’s my natural calling.

I hope to connect to some local burners here in the UK- I am based in Cornwall but unaware of anything being local to me- the nearest if a 5.5 hour drive away in London I think. Still there is this wonderful online community.

[some seeing eye]

Welcome to ePlaya and your first burn soon!

It is a wilderness camping trip where you bring everything you need to survive!

There is a lot of reading on the main Burningman.org website on preparation. Did you find https://regionals.burningman.org/regionals/europe/uk/? You can interact with them online too. I would bet there are burners in Bristol. The experienced UK burners can suggest how to divide the camping supplies and equipment you bring on your flight and which items are acquired inbound (and disposed of outbound) in the US.

If you have some flexibility on how much time off, the US Western states have some spectacular parks for a car camping explorer trip, before, or after, the burn. Some, like Yosemite, require reservations for some of the camping areas. Utah has some spectacular spots.

Zendo is a specialized psych resource on playa too. Maybe some years into the future, and depending on your professional schooling, there are also Green Dot Rangers.

The way I describe the event to people who have never been: I drive overland, so I'm tired from hours of packing and about 12 hours of driving. If you fly, your body may still be in another time zone. The event is at 4000 feet, so your body is adjusting to altitude. It is dry, and 32-43C, so you are losing water and electrolytes by perspiration and body waste. You need to keep up your electrolytes. Electrolyte depletion is a common diagnosis found by the on-site health clinic. It affects brain, body, and some people are evacuated from the event to a hospital to survive from it. There are many things to do at night, it is a light art and fire festival, so you will want to sleep in the day, but it is hard to get solid sleep because of the heat and intensity of the sun, and nonstop music even in the camping areas, your diurnal cycle is thrown off. Your meal cycle can also be disrupted. It is emotionally intense, many highs, and possibly some lows, anxiety, or panic. You are living inside, not watching as audience, a 24x7 circus of creativity all around you. You may also be pushing your body physically. It is hard to describe the dust which gets into everything, is the consistency of baby powder, and smells like ammonia. The dust is alkaline, it can cause cracks on the hands and feet which allow very painful contact with the inner layers of tissue. So there is lore on preventing that, and strategy for socks between foot and footwear. Many of the photos and videos show clean people. They cleaned up for the image, then got dirty. They don't show the dirty, with all your skin, clothes, and hair covered with dust.

That's why Elliot, who has hosted many first time burners, suggests not volunteering on a schedule your first year.

If you are a creative outfit or costume person, that is a fine thing to work on in preparation, though we do have costume camps - Black Rock Boutique and Kostume Kult. Night time, plan layers to 4C you can shed standing in front of a fire or on an enclosed dance floor at 32C+. You will be walking and bicycling 5+ miles/ 8+ km
per day, so comfortable broken in footwear is a must.

Your packing list is everything you need to survive divided into bring-across-the-ocean and acquire-locally. Your regional is a good resource for navigating that.

Prepare to be a great addition to the Black Rock City community!

[Elliot]

.
Dust? What dust?
(The piano is solid glossy black.)

[Grumpy Otter]

Your enthusiasm is a little overwhelming. Burning Man is a fabulous experience, but is incredibly diverse. You are not likely to ever “soak it ALL in”. There will be aspects that you will love. So many, that as you concentrate on one, another slips away. Don’t expect to conquer it all in your first year.

[Savannah]

Entering this space with openness and excitement for this unique opportunity of joining you all, existing burners, new burners. I am eager to connect and bring myself to this event and just be unapologetically me in expression. Change is needed more than ever, love love love will be in abundance, art and expression will bloom like it never has before.
Sending love,
Lara

Hey Lara!

You will have lots of chances to be yourself. Some of those times, you will cry because you're more tired than you can express, and some of those times, you will be more disillusioned than you can imagine. Those experiences, I can guarantee.

Other times, you will learn good or bad things about yourself that you did not know before (if you're lucky).

And some things just might be plain wonderful. Might.

It will definitely be an adventure.

Welcome!