A little explorer in the magical universe

[driza]

Who am I? Along with being a unique human being with it's own universe within, I'm a psychology student from Finland. I'm a rational analyzer and spiritual seeker; a creative young mind full of will to discover more of myself and the world. And tons of other things, like all of us. I love life, I love meeting all the amazing people on the way, I love experiencing... Above all, I love being me.

...and I have a mission to join Burning Man. Now I know this will probably arise some sighs in more experienced burners: An exited virgin burner without any real idea of the realities of the life on a desert and without a group of experienced burners to go with you... Ahem. Well, I'd actually love to be at least somewhat realistic with my plans and I've been reading through the survival quide, ePlaya, asking questions from my friend who has been there many years, making a list of what I'll need... I guess the biggest pitfall in the plan is that the people who I'm planning to go with haven't yet made any solid plans, haven't bought a ticket nor even got the car fixed. In the best case I have a group of friends, a car, tents and everything necessary there waiting for me but I'd be naive not to make any plan B.

I love the idea of sharing, gifting and building the community all together. I'm considering the trip to be a great chance to learn more about myself and what I can be, how I can contribute, what I can create for everyone... not only at the festival but in my life too. I feel like I need inspiration with this to change this "I want to build and do my share but I don't know how" to some kind of vision(s) and real actions. I already know that my gifting will mostly be immaterial – first of all the sincere will to learn what people might need and what I could give to the community, then the will to act and give as much as I can. I'll also do my best to share my love for the universe, ideas and inspire others around me!

As a student and a budget traveller I'm of course looking for ride share sites (for the back up), discount tickets (for the group to make them more willing to make the commitment) and other info to facilitate the trip. I'll be grateful of any information and help people are willing to offer BUT I'm not expecting anyone to do this for me and just give everything on a silver platter. Most of all I'd need some encouragement to make me feel that this is not an impossible venture and that even a virgin CAN get find a way to get there without a group if need be. Or even better – to help accepting that I'll need other people and their help to make this trip real but that there's always a way to give more than I take.

Love and light,
driza

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!
Http://rideshare.burningman.com

Have questions? Read this first: http://www.burningman.com/first_timers/
Everybody on eplaya is always excited to help first timers; but in sympathy for some of us old timers, please get your required reading out of the way before posting. As hard as it is to rein in the the excitement and enthusiasm, and as unbelievable as it might seem, most of your questions have already been asked and answered, if you just take a moment to read.

Now, let the adventure begin!

[Savannah]

Hi Driza! Welcome to the board.

Glad you've been doing a lot of reading. I can tell you've lurked a bit here because you know what the hot issues here are . . . presumptuous or lazy virgins, beggars, entitlement, etc. Your understanding of the situation is appreciated.

Here is the rideshare board:
http://rideshare.burningman.com

If the people you're hoping to go with don't even have plans or tickets, I can see why you're making a plan B. However, I saw that you made a post chasing down 4 Will Call tickets, so good luck with it! By the way, I'm told that there are some protections in: 1) paying with PayPal 2) never marking the transaction as a gift. You will also want to follow the advice about buying from a 3rd party (includes information about avoiding scams):
http://tickets.burningman.com/#buysell

(Are you coming directly from Finland or from within the continent? I note you mention a car needing to be fixed, which makes me think you're closer than Finland right now.

I think this is still possible for you this year, but you have to decide that it is, and be ready to adapt readily to changes. I think you know that, right? . . . Luckily, it's good practice for the playa.

[FIGJAM]

Welcome!

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... ading.html

[driza]

Thank you everyone, especially Savannah Even though everyone has the responsibility to search for their information, it's always good to have the people with patience who are willing to post the same links and basic information to everyone and greet even the laziest ones.

I'm still in Finland and flying to NY on Aug 7th. The car I'm talking about is my friend's who wants to go and who I'm planning to go with in the first place. Like I wrote, I might have everything ready waiting for me - car, tents, friends to go with... most probably will if they have enough will to go. My task is mainly to look for the tickets as they don't time to sit on the computer and do the ticket chase.

I guess I'm just worrying as I know they will be going from festival to festival and I'm worried that they don't have time to plan enough and then back up as they haven't really confirmed anything... on the other hand I know worrying is the least helpful thing - I'm trying to change it and just make as much search as I can to be ready to offer it when they will need it.

Thank you for the links. I know all the information is there whenever I need it. Still the most important and helpful words were these:

"I think this is still possible for you this year, but you have to decide that it is, and be ready to adapt readily to changes. I think you know that, right? . . . Luckily, it's good practice for the playa. "

I guess I knew it but it's always helpful to hear it from someone else. I know I can do it.

So to make this more clear: I don't need anyone to do the information search for me. The best help I can get would be just some connections, maybe with another virgins (and I know I can and will go through the introductions and contact people myself) for example. Or a few words telling that I'm on a right path. To say anyone can do it if they really want. To confirm what I already know.

[illy dilly]

YOU CAN DO IT DRIZA!!!!
There are a couple of other posts on here touch on the idea that as long as you get there, and bring food, water, and shelter, you will have an amazing time and lots of fun!

I must have missed it. What city/state are your no so prepared friends in?
Would it be possible to start setting up a ride share plan?

Where is all your gear at this time?

[Savannah]

I'm glad you're flying to New York on August 7th. Unless you'll also be working some job 8+ hours a day (seems unlikely), that's plenty of time to shop. Most people who using flying for part of their Burning Man shopping manage to get their shopping done in a single challenging day.

If you can put up a tent and stake it down (really well), it sounds like tickets & who you're riding with are the hard parts.

Tickets will sell out this year and not be sold at the door, so it might be good to have a deadline for when you stop bargain hunting for 4 tickets and simply purchase full price and have them held at Will Call.

If you can't get your friends to commit, it might safer to buy 1 ticket for yourself, and they can get theirs however they want.

[illy dilly]

wow, can't believe I must have missed the entire paragraph with the logistics details.

I would suggest, buy a Will Call ticket now!
That way you know you have it and it will be waiting for you at the gate. No matter if you go with plan A or B or maybe even plan C. The Ticket will be there.

If you fly into NY and get all your gear. And these folks bail, how do you plan to get you gear to Nevada?
Maybe ship it and then pick up in Reno? Fly in a day early just to be safe?

[Savannah]

Driza, can you trust your friends to pay for their tickets even if they cancel on you?

For example: let's say you buy 4 Will Call tickets. Then 3 friends back out.

Will Call orders for multiple tickets must be sold as a block in 1 person's name. If the tickets are transferred to the new owner, the tickets are still in just one name. The ticket owner arrives at the event w/ ID & a confirmation number, & may then split the order into additional legal names.

But if your friends cancel, it may be difficult to 1) find buyers for three tickets AND 2) convince them to buy your other 3 other tickets with only the promise that you will put the tickets in their names when you get there . . . unless the ticket buyers are your new rideshare (& have seen proof that you have Will Call . . . and you have seen proof that they have the cash ready to hand you). Etc.

This is why--with a group of people who sound uncommitted--it sounds like a good idea to buy one ticket & have it held at Will Call just for you. You'll pay a little more, but you will have a ticket for sure, and you won't have to figure out what to do in an awkward situation.

[illy dilly]

I Must refrain from hijacking this thread, as this person has an actual problem.

[driza]

Thank you for all the answers and really important points.

Savannah, you're definitely right - I should either make sure they'll already give me the money in advance and make that commitment OR buy a ticket for myself and let the others get theirs whenever they are ready. And yep, if I can't find a good bargain before leaving Finland, I'll buy it for myself through the official route. If I'm travelling by myself, I'm ready to pay for the peace of mind

If you fly into NY and get all your gear. And these folks bail, how do you plan to get you gear to Nevada?
Maybe ship it and then pick up in Reno? Fly in a day early just to be safe?

Good point. The gear and friends are in NY and in case I need to fly it's really hard to get everything with me. I might consider either flying somewhere early (wherever I'd then get a rideshare) and buy/rent/borrow the equipment I can't get to the plane. Good thing is that I have two weeks to make my plans and arrange things so I'll have time to figure it out even after arriving NY.

I think I'll also see if I find other people driving from NY or around. Even if everything goes well, people don't back up and the car works, it's still a great thing if we'd find others driving the same route.

Thank you folks! You have already helped a lot. ^^

[Savannah]

Ok, awesome--you sound like you have your head on your shoulders; I think you'll do fine.

This is the time of year where people start backing out of things and sticking their friends with RV deposits and unused tickets . . . we see a lot of people scrambling then. Though until this thread I never thought of the unique difficulty posed by what happens when someone buys Will Call and then people back out . . . because in years past, tickets either haven't sold out online, and/or there are tickets at the door.

Neither probably being true this time definitely creates unique circumstances.

[illy dilly]

It sure does!
Will call scares me. It always has, the only good thing about it, is that you know you can't loose your ticket. But you could loose your credit card, I guess. I wonder if instead of people begging for change at the gate, there will be people begging to sell will call tickets, and for you to ride in at the same time (or how ever that works). People selling dirt cheap tickets just to get some cash back. huh.

Driza, I would be careful. Two weeks is not a whole lot of time. Especially to book flights and ship packages!
But Savannah makes an extremely strong point about people scrambling the last month. I didn't even think about that! There are always people trying to fill that void in their RV or trying to get rid of that last minute bail out ticket.

[driza]

Well, I'll be buing a will call ticket whether I buy it the official route or from a third party as they won't ship a ticket outside US/Canada anyways. I'm definitely starting to lean towards buying ticket the official route just to be safe.

I will definitely use some time to figure out how to get there and get the right gear in time. I don't think I can anyways buy a damn expensive last-minute plane ticket or make shipping but I'll definitely make use of the rideshare sites, see where I could buy a tent and other bigger equipment that I can't just carry in my backpack and of course just try to make the original plan to work if possible. An old and familiar saying but still true: if there's a will, there's a way.

It will definitely be interesting to see whether there will be a lot of people with extra tickets that they can't use... and will there be a way to find a way to get the last minute cancellations to benefit the ones at the gate without a ticket for one reason or another (and vice versa).

[illy dilly]

Here are my thoughts on Third party sales. Only buy it if it is hard copy. If it is will call and the other person selling it is lazy, they might not tell gate/tickets soon enough that the name for the ticket has changed.
To be safe, I'd buy an "official" will call ticket your self.


Keep us posted on the status of your trip and let us know if there are ways we can help!

[driza]

Apparently you were right while advicing to buy the ticket right away. I took that advice and had my credit card already in hand when I checked my FB and...

...read that one of my best friends friend has a ticket for sale. So I actually got lucky - unless he changes his mind I've got a ticket for myself from a trustworthy seller, with a reasonable price (unlike the crazy ticket prices at eBay today) that can be paid through my own local bank account. The fact that the tickets were sold out later the same day makes it even more lucky. Wow.

Well, I guess it was a good idea to think about the plan B... X) This definitely makes the chances of my friends going with me a lot lower. Let's see.

For some reason I feel really relieved. As the tickets are sold out, they'll need to make a decision. Soon I'll know if I really have the ticket and what I'll need to do to get there. Whatever happens, knowing is always so much better than coping with those what if's. Then I can work on one plan and not with three possible ones. ^^

[trilobyte]

Welcome aboard (to eplaya and this crazy Burning Man adventure). Fingers crossed, hopefully your ticket and other plans come through. Good luck!

[Savannah]

Whew, Driza! I knew you were on the fence because of the stuff with your friends, and was wondering what happened to you. Good luck with your friend's ticket!

[illy dilly]

For some reason I feel really relieved. As the tickets are sold out, they'll need to make a decision. Soon I'll know if I really have the ticket and what I'll need to do to get there. Whatever happens, knowing is always so much better than coping with those what if's. Then I can work on one plan and not with three possible ones. ^^

Right! Its one of those "even a bad answer is better than no answer" types of things.

I'm glad you've found some direction!

[driza]

Sticking with my dear own thread and venting out my enthusiasm in here.

I've got a ticket waiting, ride arranged and getting things crossed on my checklist one by one (even though the list keeps on growing the more I read threads at ePlaya and talk with people about BM). And on top of it, I'm flying to US in three days and starting a three-month-adventure including Burning Man, a few smaller festivals, couchsurfing and time to do whatever I feel like. The previous weeks I've also remembered that I'm perfectly happy at home too, I'm not even worried about getting back after the trip. Wow. Never felt better!

Thank you for everyone who posted to this thread earlier: Awesome that you had the patience even with one more noob virgin flying from another country to US without any solid plan. (Ooooh yes, "not for newb's" will definitely make every virgin curious ) You should all get a medal.

I'll keep on stalking ePlaya every now and then even on the road, even though it is impossible to keep on track with all the new posts. Gosh, there are a bunch of really active writers on this board!

Much love <3

[illy dilly]

Gosh, there are a bunch of really active writers on this board!

Much love <3

Some of us are really good at doing nothing at work...... and getting paid for it!

Its good to hear everything worked out! Did the other friends end up bailing? or committing to the adventure?
We're always down to help out a newb, especially when their questions or problems don't include "I need a ticket please" or "I want to be part of a theme camp" or "what kind of tent/shade should i get". These 3 questions get played out pretty quick.

[driza]

Did the other friends end up bailing? or committing to the adventure?

They didn't end up coming but my friend hooked me up with his connections and I'm travelling to BRC with the Ohio Burning Unit. So we have a caravan of talented fire spinners, jugglers, stuntmen, photographers etc. and a random Finnish kid I can't even put into words how awesome I feel that these people let me travel with them and are such welcoming and helpful towards me!

I feel like everything has worked itself out perfectly. Now that I'm not travelling with my friends I feel like I'm free and ready to make this adventure on my own. I've always loved travelling alone as it kind of pushes me out and forces me to make the connections with new people. That's how I've always ended up having the best moments. Don't get me wrong - my friends are awesome people and I wish they could be there experiencing BM too. On the other hand this is probably just what I needed as now I don'thave an excuse to hang out with only people I know already.

Soon hitting the road and beginning the journey. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!