I posted on the rideshare board already in the off chance I can figure out a ride to Burning Man this year, however I thought I would post here to try to figure out some of my alternatives.
I am in Manitoba, Canada which is about 1700 miles from Black Rock City. This will be my first burn if I figure out a way to get there and make it work so I'm looking for some veteran advice. I will be traveling alone.
I could fly in to Reno (leaving from Minot, ND as flights are a bit cheaper and I prefer to go through local land immigration at a border I have much experience crossing at) and get a ride to the event but I'm really not sure how that would work out for me without being an incredible burden on anyone else. I have made out a list of everything I absolutely need for my survival out there for the week, and then a list of "if I have room I'll pack" extras that I can do without. I figure I could probably end up with two luggage bags of all the stuff necessary for my survival not including my water.
My big thing is if I fly in, how am I ever going to get my tent and a shade with the appropriate tie downs on the plane and how will I pick up water when I get to Reno, as well as get all this stuff to Black Rock City. A rideshare would be awesome in that case, but still - packing a tent? On board a flight?
I don't have the ability to rent a car once I get there, but I would have funds to help cover fuel and transportation fees if I got in a rideshare. For a brief moment I thought - well I can buy a tent when I get there and gift it to someone else perhaps for their future use, but I would still have to be prepared in the case that I did end up taking it home from me. Plus the hassle of finding a store with a suitable tent.........ya doesn't sound like fun to leave that til the last minute.
Is there anyone who has flown in that can offer me some tips and tricks? Or even if you haven't flown in and feel like throwing out some words of advice. I'm open to anything, and if I can't figure this all out this year.........well there's always next year.
Thanks,
Jenn
Flying In From Canada - Tips and Advice
Hi, Jenn,
I don't know how big your tent and shade are, but they often will fit in as checked bags if their not small enough for carry on = I have a 2-person tent that does qualify as carry on.
For shopping, see Louise's pages at
http://civilizedexplorer.pbwiki.com/CivExReno
which provides links for water, food, and more. There's not much in walking distance of the airport that I recall; maybe someone can chime in and correct me. You can get everything you need in Reno, of course, but you end up having to be in a car to get to much of it.
Twin City Surplus used to have a deal for Burners where they'd provide everything you need (except maybe food and water) for some price I can't remember, you'd pick it up, then drop it off after the burn and they'd clean everything up and resell it as their fee for cleaning it up and saving you disposal. See
http://www.twincitysurplus.com/
for their Web site. I've sent an email asking if they're doing that this year.
Reno is full of outdoors types, so there are lots of stores with suitable tents, including Twin City Surplus and REI (http://www.rei.com).
I'm sorry to say Louise and I have a two-passenger van, so we can't offer a ride. I think this is a good place to post and ask for ride resources.
I don't know how big your tent and shade are, but they often will fit in as checked bags if their not small enough for carry on = I have a 2-person tent that does qualify as carry on.
For shopping, see Louise's pages at
http://civilizedexplorer.pbwiki.com/CivExReno
which provides links for water, food, and more. There's not much in walking distance of the airport that I recall; maybe someone can chime in and correct me. You can get everything you need in Reno, of course, but you end up having to be in a car to get to much of it.
Twin City Surplus used to have a deal for Burners where they'd provide everything you need (except maybe food and water) for some price I can't remember, you'd pick it up, then drop it off after the burn and they'd clean everything up and resell it as their fee for cleaning it up and saving you disposal. See
http://www.twincitysurplus.com/
for their Web site. I've sent an email asking if they're doing that this year.
Reno is full of outdoors types, so there are lots of stores with suitable tents, including Twin City Surplus and REI (http://www.rei.com).
I'm sorry to say Louise and I have a two-passenger van, so we can't offer a ride. I think this is a good place to post and ask for ride resources.
Thanks for the great tips and advice guys!
Passport - Check! I've had one for awhile now because of all this passport required, okay not required, oh wait now it's going to be required but later, nonsense.
After work today I stopped by a newly opened sporting goods store that had some great advice for me too. The tent lady there showed me a couple models that are lightweight for carrying and small enough for packing - RIGHT ON! I'll post them here if I can find them on the Eureka website. I'm not totally positive if they're perfect for the playa, my main concern is if they'll stay down with the wind. Granted I will have all my stuff inside of the tent and it will be pegged down with longer pegs.
http://tinyurl.com/2xk9ut
http://tinyurl.com/ys6j9r
Way nice to know that there are such lightweight tents now.
The shopping resource page is perfect - I'm going to look for a rideshare from the airport and book my flights knowing a bit more about where in Reno to get the supplies that I am missing.
Passport - Check! I've had one for awhile now because of all this passport required, okay not required, oh wait now it's going to be required but later, nonsense.
After work today I stopped by a newly opened sporting goods store that had some great advice for me too. The tent lady there showed me a couple models that are lightweight for carrying and small enough for packing - RIGHT ON! I'll post them here if I can find them on the Eureka website. I'm not totally positive if they're perfect for the playa, my main concern is if they'll stay down with the wind. Granted I will have all my stuff inside of the tent and it will be pegged down with longer pegs.
http://tinyurl.com/2xk9ut
http://tinyurl.com/ys6j9r
Way nice to know that there are such lightweight tents now.
The shopping resource page is perfect - I'm going to look for a rideshare from the airport and book my flights knowing a bit more about where in Reno to get the supplies that I am missing.
There have been light tents for some time.
My last tent was seven pounds with the heavy poles, four with light ones.
It was good for 120 mph.
If you can get a four season, do that.
It lasted over twenty years.
My last tent was seven pounds with the heavy poles, four with light ones.
It was good for 120 mph.
If you can get a four season, do that.
It lasted over twenty years.
"Everything is more wonderful when you do it with a car, don't you think?"
-girl by the fire, watching a tree moved by car bumper in the bonfire
It would be a shame if I had to resort to self-deception to preserve my faith in objective reality.
-girl by the fire, watching a tree moved by car bumper in the bonfire
It would be a shame if I had to resort to self-deception to preserve my faith in objective reality.
There's such a thing as too cheap.
My first tent out there wasn't the cheapest, by far, and it failed instantly in the wind.
A week with no zippers and two inches of dust in the tent is tolerable, but not much fun.
The tent also folded up whenever the wind blew.
The poles didn't break.
They were too flimsy for that.
It would have been okay with no wind, but you can't count on that.
My first tent out there wasn't the cheapest, by far, and it failed instantly in the wind.
A week with no zippers and two inches of dust in the tent is tolerable, but not much fun.
The tent also folded up whenever the wind blew.
The poles didn't break.
They were too flimsy for that.
It would have been okay with no wind, but you can't count on that.
"Everything is more wonderful when you do it with a car, don't you think?"
-girl by the fire, watching a tree moved by car bumper in the bonfire
It would be a shame if I had to resort to self-deception to preserve my faith in objective reality.
-girl by the fire, watching a tree moved by car bumper in the bonfire
It would be a shame if I had to resort to self-deception to preserve my faith in objective reality.
It's always a balancing act for gear at Burning Man. Somethings just don't last, no matter how expensive, so it's not worth spending good money on good gear, but some things are too important to get cheap crap. The problem is that different people have different judgments on what's important.
The original poster is a first-time burner and hasn't developed the experience yet to make the judgments, so reading a few different opinions can be either valuable in making a decision or totally confusing because of the conflict. I wish her/him luck and suggest making a decision and sticking with it, then learn from your experience this year to make it better next year. I suspect the tent has been bought - that's fine, bring it and see how it works for you. You'll do it better every year, if you want to. :-)
The original poster is a first-time burner and hasn't developed the experience yet to make the judgments, so reading a few different opinions can be either valuable in making a decision or totally confusing because of the conflict. I wish her/him luck and suggest making a decision and sticking with it, then learn from your experience this year to make it better next year. I suspect the tent has been bought - that's fine, bring it and see how it works for you. You'll do it better every year, if you want to. :-)
Personally, I got a hand me down "four person" (yeah four if they are Jewel, Gary Coleman, Danny DeVito, and Verne Troyer- I'm 6'3" and I doubt I could have a threesome in the thing) tent and one of my checked bags is a military duffel with the tent, sleeping bag, mini pillow and air mattress crammed in together. Any "2-4 person" tent should fit in checked luggage. I do not recommend the "one person" tents. My neighbor's became basically a kites - but she had a playa boyfriend by that point and stayed with him.
Your main challenge going straight from RNO is food/water. If you're with a theme/group camp that's hauling it in - easy peasy. Or even better, meet them en route - that's how my canadian friends did it in the past. Otherwise warn your ride share that you need to go grocery/water shopping, because they may not have had to. If all this is too much, look into the Green Tortoise.
My personal experience - coming from further away.
05-flew to San Francisco and rode in with Green Tortoise.
06-flew to Reno, got a ride with another camp from the my neck of the woods and grocery shopped while they filled a massive water tank.
07-fly to Reno - DIY and post a rideshare notice once I lock my plans.
Your main challenge going straight from RNO is food/water. If you're with a theme/group camp that's hauling it in - easy peasy. Or even better, meet them en route - that's how my canadian friends did it in the past. Otherwise warn your ride share that you need to go grocery/water shopping, because they may not have had to. If all this is too much, look into the Green Tortoise.
My personal experience - coming from further away.
05-flew to San Francisco and rode in with Green Tortoise.
06-flew to Reno, got a ride with another camp from the my neck of the woods and grocery shopped while they filled a massive water tank.
07-fly to Reno - DIY and post a rideshare notice once I lock my plans.
Burning Man is about being part of a community. Unfortunately, it's a community of people who can't get up before 1 p.m. - The Onion
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=20127flipper wrote:>SNIP<
If all this is too much, look into the Green Tortoise.
My personal experience - coming from further away.
05-flew to San Francisco and rode in with Green Tortoise.
>SNIP<
with a link to their Web site. Take a look at what they provide and consider having them pick you up in Reno.
It's difficult to balance, and maybe flipper has more input on this, but my understanding with Green Tortoise is that you pay them money up front and the provide the infrastructure for your Burn: you bring tent and personal effects, they provide transportation, a theme camp, companions with some experience at BM, and food. It can be done without them, but I think they're worth some consideration.