Imagine a world where everyone is happy. A world where strangers give eachother hugs just to introduce themselves. Imagine a world where currency does not exist. Imagine a world where love is being radiated from every single thing you touch, every place you look, every person that you see. Imagine a world where you can be who you’ve always wanted to be… you can test new limits, you can express yourself how you see fit and everyone appreciates you for it.

Welcome to Burning Man.

For 7 hot days and 6 cold nights, I walked, biked, rode, and danced around the Playa, a dusty, yet magical, place where dreams came true. Trying to describe the experiences I had on the Playa is like trying to describe how it feels to fall in love for the first time. There is no great way to put it into words, its just a warm, incredible sensation that you get when you reflect on it all.

From an outsiders perspective, Burning Man is one big party in the middle of the desert. People are naked. They dress weird. They’re having sex everywhere. Theres some art scattered around for everyone on drugs. Its one huge hippie gathering.

Right? Wrong.

Burning Man is the collective gathering of the most intelligent people on this planet that bring their wildest dreams to life. For a year, sometimes more, people build this utopia. They build large communal structures for their camps and plan activities for the entire city to enjoy. They care for one another. And it’s all done without leaving a harmful mark on Black Rock City.

Burning Man is where everyone comes as his or her very best self, ready to give everything they have in exchange for a hug and a smile. Burning Man is a school, where you can learn anything from meditation, to music production to spanking someone properly. Burning Man is an entire world where you choose your own adventure; meaning everyone’s experience is completely different. I can’t imagine two people having the same type of burn. And that is partially why you can learn so much about yourself.

What I can do, is try to tell you about my burn.

MY CAMP

I was connected with a camp called Champagne Chandeliers. Since roughly February, Champagne Chandeliers began to plan everything for our camp. The engineers in our group began to lie out how we were going to build a large dome. The dreamers in our group began to figure out how to use lycra and other breathable fabrics to decorate the dome for shade. Chandeliers were a touch of beauty, and the champagne part came in with our daily plans. The organizers in our group began to map out the activities we would hold in our dome for anyone who wanted to participate.

Because we had people flying in from all over the world for the Burn, we decided to focus on our strength in cultures. On Monday we had a language workshop, Tuesday we had the Serbians in our group teach the national Serbian dance and offer free shots of Rakia (their national drink). Wednesday we hosted a champagne party under our gorgeous chandeliers (complete with a live DJ of course), Thursday we had a spank bar, and Friday we offered face painting.

Champagne Chandelier (and lingerie) Party!

Our awesome Serbians, instructing us on how to do the national dance!

Our events were advertised in a booklet given to each burner, and sometimes we had people riding by that were just curious as to what we were up to, and they decided to come in and spend time with us. Everyone was invited. Everyone was our friend.

When I walked onto the Playa early Monday morning after a nice 7 hour drive from Reno, I was greeted by my new family with the longest and most sincere hugs. After quickly getting acquainted with everyone, we immediately got to work. We turned from family to coworkers. We worked together to bring our design to life, and after a few hours, our Champagne Chandelier dome was built and ready to be enjoyed.

Building the dome

Shortly after, I worked with 2 of my other campmates to build a yurt they had designed in San Francisco. We turned cut pieces of polyiso insulation, into a home. A hexayurt, to be exact, complete with two air vents and a hanging flashlight so we could see at night. While on the more expensive side of camping for the week, this yurt was an incredible shelter, keeping out the heat during the day, and keeping out the cold at night. Likewise, it was large enough for the three of us to share with all of our belongings.

Inside of our yurt

Our completed yurt

Our camp was truly designed like a family, all the way down to cooking, cleaning and chores. We had assignments everyday and looked after one another.

Camp was home. Camp was a place where you could always find a friend to chat with or convince to tag along on an adventure with you. Camp was where you could always grab water or a snack, or take a comfy nap.

Our camp was beautiful, wonderful and turned roughly 38 strangers into some pretty close friends. To everyone at Champagne Chandeliers, I truly love you. There are no people in this would I would have rather camped with. Thank you for making my first burn an unforgettable one.

“This is a weird place” – Bobby Asplund

BLACK ROCK CITY

The entire community is organized like a clock, from 2 to 10 (with 11, 12 and 1 being apart of the Esplanade, a space reserved for art, art cars and the famous Burning Man). Through 2-10 you also had the alphabet to help you understand where you were. The layout was easy to understand, and if there was a workshop you wanted to attend, it was usually pretty easy to locate.

Yes, its true that there are no trash cans anywhere. You are responsible for your own waste and taking it with you, not just on that day, but off of the Playa for good once you leave the city. The people of Black Rock City take this incredibly seriously, and I was amazed at what attendees were doing in order “leave no trace”. Our camp went as far as to filter our “grey water”. For example, if brushing your teeth, you would not just spit your toothpaste on the ground; but instead you would spit it into a communal jug, so that the chemicals would not harm the playa. The love for this sacred space is real, and those who lived here for the week did everything they could to protect it.

Biking through the streets of BRC, you can visit any camp you wanted, at any time. Everything is free; the alcohol (with a proper ID of course), the food, the massages, everything. There are bars everywhere with different themes and different activities. You can participate in what you want, whenever you want.

Biking through the playa

If jumping on a trampoline to ABBA sounds appealing, you can do it. If you feel like watching a BDSM workshop, its there. If you feel like dining on some fine French cuisine, you can go to a French restaurant. If you’d like to get your tarot cards read, there are about 10 places to do that. If you feel like kissing someone, there are kissing booths with multiple options for the type of kiss you’re looking for. Anything you can possibly think of, you can find in the streets of Black Rock City.

When you leave the city, you begin to enter the Esplanade. The Esplanade is the center, which holds all of the art, including the incredible art cars. There are art structures located throughout the Esplanade with the Man in the very center. Beyond the Esplanade is the Deep Playa, with even more art pieces, and this year, a movie theater (complete with a concession stand), and a Cambell’s Soup installation, where you can order some soup.

Hungry?

Playa Art

At night, the entire city turns into a vibrant circus. Gorgeous LED lights flood the Playa as the art cars turn into moving stages, bicycles and people glow in the dark and music is everywhere. Fire spinners entertain and the city is a giant dance party. You can hop on and off art cars, travel into the deep playa, dance at a nearby stage or check out the different art installations. Again, Burning Man is all about choosing your own adventure.

WHAT MY BURN WAS LIKE

I spent my days on the Playa exploring. I rode around to different camps and went with the wind. If something looked or sounded appealing, I stopped, but I did not plan much.

Over the course of several days I:

• Jumped on several trampolines
• Went to some cool bars/clubs built for the Playa
• Made a ton of friends, and met some people with the most amazing stories
• Attended a gong meditation class
• Watched a BDSM demonstration
• Went on a Playa date (complete with a bicycle ride and a stop at an ice cream shop)
• Attended four TED Talks
• Listened to an awesome lecture on why festivals are important to society, given by Chip Conley
• Went to Costco camp to find my soulmate (it was awesome)
• Found my dance floor soulmate
• Watched a bit of a movie in the movie theater in Deep Playa
• Spoke with a Taiwanese fortune teller
• Rode on some of the coolest art cars around
• Enjoyed live jazz music at a jazz bar
• Saw three of the most breathtaking sunrises
• Fell in love with people and art installations

There is really no way for me to go into detail on my experiences or what I got out of my burn. It is impossible to describe. But every single thing, every single person I met, and every thought that I had, was absolutely beautiful. When the man began to burn on Saturday night, I cried. I cried because I could not believe what I had just experienced, I could not believe what kind of city I was living in, and I could not believe that I had to leave it. It was real in every single aspect, I saw it, I touched it, I lived it.

But all good things must come to an end, and eventually, every Burner needs to return to default world. The default world is where everyone is too busy to listen to you, because they’re too busy worrying about themselves. The default world is where you have to work 9-5 and be careful about being too outwardly expressive. The default world is where giving a stranger a hug is just socially unacceptable.

At Burning Man, everything goes. And this is why Black Rock City is such an incredible place.

Black Rock City is a real place, and Burning Man is not a festival. Burning Man is a temporary or pop-up community where everything is accepted, and loved. Burning Man is a place to become inspired, a place to showcase your creativity, a place to let your troubles burn along with the wood the makes up the art installations. Burning Man is a place to be absolutely free.

Burning Man is a community that I plan to return to every year until I physically cannot return anymore.

Black Rock City is my favorite city in the entire world and Burning Man is my home.

XO Steph

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY FULL BURNING MAN PHOTO GALLERY. 

Stay tuned for more posts on Burning Man, including my breakdown of the Ten Principles and What to Know as a First Time Burner.

Like what you see here? Be sure to follow me on Instagram @SightsNSoundsWithSteph
[fts instagram instagram_id=23550403 super_gallery=yes image_size=250px icon_size=65px space_between_photos=1px hide_date_likes_comments=no center_container=no image_stack_animation=no type=user]