Hi Burners from Ed from Ireland

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

[burner von braun]

Hi edbrez! You seem to be asking a lot of good questions and thinking things through. It's great that you are working on it now, which gives you time to explore your options, and get comfortable with your choices. Part of the fun is learning and preparing, and that soon becomes a twinkle in your eye as you dream of your trip to the playa, even as you go about your day to day activities. Best of luck to you!

[edbrez]

Hi edbrez! You seem to be asking a lot of good questions and thinking things through. It's great that you are working on it now, which gives you time to explore your options, and get comfortable with your choices. Part of the fun is learning and preparing, and that soon becomes a twinkle in your eye as you dream of your trip to the playa, even as you go about your day to day activities. Best of luck to you!

Thanks, yeah I am enjoying the planning element, it will be an epic journey, have decided going solo for trip and getting stuck into complete self reliance. It should be a really nice pilgrimage that could potentially be a life changer for me. It will be daunting but I think looking back having achieved it the end of September for my birthday, will be supremely rewarding and a great boost to the self-confidence. In direct contrast to the patterned lives we all live most of the year, Burning Man seems to me to be the great human experiment, life lessons in commitment and community spirit, and a chance for radical self awareness and understanding of oneself and all those around us. We're all just freaks at the end of the day with more in common than we admit to.....

That twinkle you speak of, its there alright, it's a great distraction in work most days

[edbrez]

http://www.chromatest.net/Lovemonkey/

If anyone is looking for Dimensions for a MonkeyHut and raw materials
good link above

Mentioned above by graidawg also

[Savannah]

Ed . . . technically ,there is a possibility that you might hate it. Or, you might just kinda like it and have an interesting adventure, never to be repeated. Or, you might fall in love with it . . . but you won't know until you've experienced it.

If you let go of your expectations and just focus on preparation, you are more likely to have a good time. 'Cause if you expect it to change everything and it doesn't, it could be a hell of a letdown. No one wants you to feel let down.

The only way in which my first Burn changed my life is that it got me to attend more Burns. It took me 4 Burns to have a life-changing Burn.

[edbrez]

Savannah I know what you're saying and I understand the points you're making. Nothing is guaranteed.
Prepare and it takes some of the risks away from having a bad burn. I'm reading up on everything I can, trying to both balance bulk and necessity. It's still early days, the hype will subside for a while once I have a game plan. Budget is there, just wanna ensure im prepared. I still haven't got a ticket so to say its early days is an understatement.

I think I'm guaranteed to have a good time if I make it out there, at end of the day, its down to participation and that's my intention.

4 burns and it was a life changer? Any specific reason?

[9ah]

Sounds good.


Like Savannah said earlier, one of the best parts of being a one-time lamplighting volunteer is that you can just show up before dusk any day of the week! No need to commit to scheduled shift, just come by if you're feeling it. The invitation stands for everybody!

Scout. Really nice recap. I agree, show up for happy hour (if you are at least 21) so that you can sign up for a shift when the board opens. Wear comfy shoes and if you can't lift 40lbs comfortably think twice before becoming a carrier. You are carrying lanterns on your shoulders. It's lots of fun, but it is work.

Savannah was right in not overdoing it your first year, esp. coming internationally. You are jet lagged and then you are scrambling for supplies upon arrival only to get in a car/rv/truck and drive hours to reach the gate. Then you are sitting in line to enter camp (assuming you don't have EA) and then you get to your camp and set up only to have to start your shift/training. You don't want to burn out the first year.

Oh and in case I missed the shower stall mention, be sure to have a sun shower if you plan to use a shower stall.

[illy dilly]

4 burns and it was a life changer? Any specific reason?

The Brown Acid

Don't listen to'em Ed!
There are plenty of things you can expect! Like: Dust, heat, people, costumes, a line to get in, The Man, a Temple, some art, etc.
The real trick is to keep your expectations really generic.

[edbrez]

Sounds good.


Like Savannah said earlier, one of the best parts of being a one-time lamplighting volunteer is that you can just show up before dusk any day of the week! No need to commit to scheduled shift, just come by if you're feeling it. The invitation stands for everybody!

Scout. Really nice recap. I agree, show up for happy hour (if you are at least 21) so that you can sign up for a shift when the board opens. Wear comfy shoes and if you can't lift 40lbs comfortably think twice before becoming a carrier. You are carrying lanterns on your shoulders. It's lots of fun, but it is work.

Savannah was right in not overdoing it your first year, esp. coming internationally. You are jet lagged and then you are scrambling for supplies upon arrival only to get in a car/rv/truck and drive hours to reach the gate. Then you are sitting in line to enter camp (assuming you don't have EA) and then you get to your camp and set up only to have to start your shift/training. You don't want to burn out the first year.

Oh and in case I missed the shower stall mention, be sure to have a sun shower if you plan to use a shower stall.

I plan on sleeping on the way over, will take sleeping pills to aid my descent into the land of Nod, hopefully this should help me avoid Jet lag .
I agree I don't want to volunteer for the whole event, hope to do as much as I can with Temple Guardians and maybe two days with Lamplighters. I may be completely overwhelmed by the heat and will have to adjust my plans but I'll do what I can to participate and give back to the community.

Regards the Shower, i'll have to see what options I have with the box truck. If there is a roof rack or some leverage for support I could hang from top of box truck.
Great discussion here http://tribes.tribe.net/burning_man_tip ... 060b7f4c8d
gives me a couple of other options should I need to build a support structure.
Evap pond has been mentioned to me before, that will be necessary alright, i'll have to think about grey water collection and hopefully I can come to some hybrid system that satisfies both functions.
Lots of planning, lots of help
Really appreciate all the advice

[edbrez]

4 burns and it was a life changer? Any specific reason?

The Brown Acid

Don't listen to'em Ed!
There are plenty of things you can expect! Like: Dust, heat, people, costumes, a line to get in, The Man, a Temple, some art, etc.
The real trick is to keep your expectations really generic.

The BROWN ACID

"He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man" Dr Thompson

I expect it to be hot, is that generic enough

[theCryptofishist]

Regards the Shower, i'll have to see what options I have with the box truck. If there is a roof rack or some leverage for support I could hang from top of box truck.
Great discussion here http://tribes.tribe.net/burning_man_tip ... 060b7f4c8d
gives me a couple of other options should I need to build a support structure.
Evap pond has been mentioned to me before, that will be necessary alright, i'll have to think about grey water collection and hopefully I can come to some hybrid system that satisfies both functions.
Lots of planning, lots of help
Really appreciate all the advice

Tribe's still useful? my goodness.

You can always dip towels into the grey water and then hang them off the back of the truck. With something underneath to catch the drips. I've seen evap systems work, but it's usually a lot of work pre-playa, building and testing and that doesn't seem compatible with the coming from overseas thing. Plus, you'll avoid the whole random people dumping their greywater into yours thing, which is the bane of such systems.

[BoyScoutGirl]

edbrez, I don't know if you noticed it, but there was an announcement about Desert Rat's bikes in the recent JackRabbit Speaks issue, the one with all the ticket info for 2013. This group specifically helps get international participants bikes on the playa, but they run out of slots fast, so if you're thinking about going that route, I'd contact them ASAP.

[Savannah]

I use this evap pond recipe. It's good for a small number of people.
http://www.burningman.com/environment/r ... water.html

Don't forget trash bags for the end of the week and to either be ready to collect the last bits of water and tote it out, or stop showering a day before you leave (or switch to a garden sprayer for the last shower so it evaps fast).

[edbrez]

edbrez, I don't know if you noticed it, but there was an announcement about Desert Rat's bikes in the recent JackRabbit Speaks issue, the one with all the ticket info for 2013. This group specifically helps get international participants bikes on the playa, but they run out of slots fast, so if you're thinking about going that route, I'd contact them ASAP.

Thanks for the reminder BoyScoutGirl, I saw the piece in the newsletter, actually left it on the long finger and forgot
I got on to Ray since thanks to your reminder and i'll have my bike booked shortly.
He runs a great service and is top fella, couldn't have been nicer to deal with
Everything is falling together nicely

[edbrez]

Flights booked



6.50am flight Fri 23rd arriving 5.50pm Reno Straight to the Sands for a well deserved sleep.
Pick up Box truck Saturday and frantically shop all day Saturday and Sunday to gather supplies

[Savannah]

Well done.