Hey there! Newbie from the flatlands here

[Shemonstar]

Hey, I'm Stephanie from Kansas, and I can't tell you how excited I am about Burning Man! I just can't wait! Unfortunately I have no idea when I'm going to finally make it home. Mostly it's a finance issue, but someday I'll be there. I'm sorta thinking 2014 or 15. But I'm already making vague plans. I've been reading everything I could get my hands on in order to prepare; jack rabbit speaks, the blog, here on eplaya, and of course the First Timers Guide. As a matter of fact, I think I've read most of these things multiple times. I've literally woken up in the middle of the night with a new idea, "Wait! How the heck do people take showers on the playa if we have to contain all of our water?" Luckily you guys are an incredible community and I found many answers and options for my latest planning panic attack. I'll catch myself looking at canned/dry instant food at the grocery store and thinking to myself, "That would keep on the playa."

I'm terrified of being unprepared, but come hell or high water I'll be there. If I'm really lucky I'll get enough people together to justify renting an RV. Yea, yea, yea, I know this is the "weakest" way to burn, but it sure would take a weight off my list of worries for my first year. Hopefully I can find a camp to join (themed or otherwise). I've done a fair amount of camping, but I've always aimed for fair weather conditions. Sure I've had to deal with less than wonderful weather, but the playa will definitely be a new atmosphere for me.

I can't wait to meet all of you wonderful people in person!

Much love. Stephanie

[Savannah]

Hi Stephanie!

I love it that you woke up in the middle of the night thinking about shower mechanisms.

Here's my favorite thread about RVs.

Exp. RVers: Suggestions for House rules for renting an RV
viewtopic.php?t=34551

Should you find it too pricey, or too hard to get enough people to fill one, consider a box truck, a solar shower and an evap pond.

Box truck camping tips..
viewtopic.php?f=277&t=35289

That way you have solid walls and even a little (migrating) shade, but less expense.

[Ugly Dougly]

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to Eplaya!
Soon someone will come along and demand they you show them your boobies. Don't mind them; they mean well.

[Drawingablank]

Welcome to eplaya.

[jkisha]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

[illy dilly]

Hey Stephanie,
Welcome to eplaya! You will be super prepared for your first burn if you keep reading and getting ready!

If I'm really lucky I'll get enough people together to justify renting an RV. Yea, yea, yea, I know this is the "weakest" way to burn, but it sure would take a weight off my list of worries for my first year.

Stephanie

Honestly, I would have to say, that having an RV your first year is not a good idea. Unless its a really new RV and/or you're familiar with how RV's work/break.

Keep it simple your first year!
From our neck of the woods you have two options for getting to BRC
1. Drive hella far and spend a bunch on gas to get there.
2. Fly there, and rent a car (or box truck), then drive in.

I've priced out both options every year, the big thing that will get you is the cost of Gas for driving over 1,200 miles each way. What I've found, if you are 1 person and don't need a lot of infrastructure its cheaper to fly to Reno and rent a car/van/truck. Renting a Van/Truck allows for the vehicle to become your shelter.
If you have 2 people splitting the cost of gas, its about even to fly+buy shit+rent vehicle as it is to just drive out in your own vehicle with the stuff you already own.
If you have 3 or more people to split gas, and share some infrastructure (Kitchen, shade, evap pond) it is cheaper to drive.

This is all based off of our camp requirements, which are not small even for 4 people. Even in a large theme camp, we are 99% self sufficient. We bring our own shade and our own kitchen, which is a bunch of stuff. And to try to recreate that same quality of living space by buying everything in Reno and Fernley would cost a small fortune. If you were camping with a large camp that had a shared shade space and community kitchen it could make flying in a lot easier.

[Elliot]

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to Eplaya!
Soon someone will come along and demand they you show them your boobies. Don't mind them; they mean well.

[*waiting patiently for page 2*]

[teardropper]

Do you like it when people demand things of you? Do you like gladiator movies? With some people asking nice works better. Ain't too proud to beg... Yeah, well, they mean well.

[dangerous]

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to Eplaya!
Soon someone will come along and demand they you show them your boobies. Don't mind them; they mean well.

no one asked to see mine last spring...i can't decide...

[Elliot]

Oh, I meant to say... Welcome Stephanie! With plenty of time to prepare, maybe a school bus would be the ticket? Sure works for me.
viewtopic.php?t=27783

[Rice]

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to Eplaya!
Soon someone will come along and demand they you show them your boobies. Don't mind them; they mean well.

no one asked to see mine last spring...i can't decide...

Come on page two!!! .... mostly resisting temptation!!

Only because you brought it up! Normally I am less of a pervert

[Elliot]

Stephanie, the concept here is that we give proper answers for the first page of the thread, and after that it is acceptable to kid around. And "Show us your tits" is currently a popular joke. Yes, ePlaya can be weird -- goes with the territory. You may be told "Fuck your day!" That means "Have a nice day." No worries.

You are doing it right -- reading everything on the web site and subscribing to Jack Rabbit Speaks. One way to wind up with an established camp is to participate here on ePlaya. When I started, several months before my first burn, and after reading a bunch of threads, I joined an ongoing "war of art" on a Theme Camp thread and wound up being invited to join the actual camp.

[dangerous]

how many more posts to page 2?

[Rice]

[insta][/insta]

how many more posts to page 2?

at least one more...

[Elliot]

Anybody feel we are hijacking Stephanie's thread with our silliness? We seem to have scared her away.

[Savannah]

Having never burned before, Stephanie may not be at the stage of obsessively checking ePlaya everyday, and has no idea you've all gone nuts in here.

[Rice]

Having never burned before, Stephanie may not be at the stage of obsessively checking ePlaya everyday, and has no idea you've all gone nuts in here.

gone nuts?? I have been accused of being a nut for decades.... Burning Man just helped me find my focus

[teardropper]

Yeah, and I've totally forgotten this whole page 1-page 2 thing. I thought Anti-M said it was a good answer, maybe 2, then, snark away. Man... fuckin' rules.

OK, please come back, Stephanie. We won't actually get any better, no, can't promise that, but, ah, you know, maybe we'll grow on ya'...

Edit: still not page 2

[Rice]

So, how many posts are in one page anyhow?? Or is it quantity of text per post??

Inquiring mind(s) want to know ? ? ? . . .

[teardropper]

Having never burned before, Stephanie may not be at the stage of obsessively checking ePlaya everyday, and has no idea you've all gone nuts in here.

Ahh, Savannah said, "...gone nuts...", like she's protecting Stephanie from us. At least till page 2. Apparently this thing is real and she's trying to get us all over there, under the cover of page 2. God, who KNOWS what will happen then...?

Edit: STILL not on page 2. Gettin' a little nervous...

[Rice]

huh, not on page two yet...

you said "Nuts" {smirk}

[Elliot]

Stephanie, what you are seeing here is called "thread drift". It is generally a good thing, or at least fun, but sometimes the original purpose of the thread gets lost and you may need to rein us in. All good.

SHOW US YOUR NUTS!

[Ugly Dougly]

Yes, if eplaya wasn't such a land of gleeful chaos, I am pretty sure she would never have been interested.

[Elliot]

Bump.

[Elliot]

Bumpity..............
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...bump.

[Elliot]

I don't know either if it counts words or posts or what.

[Elliot]

Oh, heck withit!

SHOW US YOUR TITS!

Here are mine:


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There. Everybody may resume breathing.
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Did we say "Welcome!", Stephanie? Welcome!

[teardropper]

You see what happens without fucking rules....?



Edit:...fucking STILL not page fucking 2

[dangerous]

i hope Stephanie comes back before page 2......she may not want to continue past this page

[Elliot]

i hope Stephanie comes back before page 2......she may not want to continue past this page

Meanwhile.... You are here....