Florida Virgin, planning to come 2011

[firefro]

Hello everyone!!

I have been wanting to go to Burning Man for 2 years and I decided that 2011 is the year for me. I have read up on a lot of the material provided by the site but I am here to ask the veterans for any newby advice not illustrated on the website. Especially for someone who is travelling from Florida.

Thanks in advance and I can not wait to see you all in 2011.

Firefro

[Tin Halo]

If you can afford it, time-wise, stay late and help clean up. You'll avoid the clusterfuck that is Exodus, and you'll be doing the Man a HUGE favor.
I was unable to stay and help, last time. Not this time. I plan on 'putting out', as it were.

[jkisha]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

JK

[firefro]

I have no problem helping to clean up, but how late are we talking, 1 day or 2?

[theCryptofishist]

Stayin a day is great. Staying two is good too. Past that you might need to get permission to stay on the playa.

[junglesmacks]

Hey FF..

I travel from Orlando to go to the burn, and looked at many options to transport myself and gear to and from the playa, plus have an inhabitable living/shade structure.

The challenge as you know is how to get all that equipment to BRC/Reno in a cost effective way.

My solution.. one that worked flawlessly and beyond my hopes.. was to:

- Fly in to Reno packing 1 suitcase with clothes, costumes, solar LED light strings, backpack, and assorted small essentials = $250 + $25 bag fee

- Put ad in Craigslist looking for free couches that you offer to pickup and dispose of.. to pickup Sunday before burn.

- Take taxi to Budget Rental Truck on Gentry way.. rent 16' box moving truck. They are 1000% burner friendly. You can even send stuff ahead of time for them. $350 for 11 days.

- Get all your food/water in Reno at Walmart/Trader Joes'/ Whatever. Have a couple of cans of Vitalyte sent ahead to the REI there. Pickup any last minute stuff.

- Go grab those couches from whomever you go them from.

- Head to BRC!



The moving truck worked PERFECT.. I had a ready made living structure that was wind/dust proof.. like an RV but a fraction of the price. I had a way to transport myself and as much gear as I wanted, and room to pick up a rider from the rideshare forum to help with gas. Gentry Way location charged me $100 to clean the thing, and I happily let them do it.. I didn;t clean a thing. Dropped it off covered in dust and took my cab back to the airport.

Overall.. I feel like it's the best option for someone flying in from out of town, but that's just me. Feel free to PM me if I can be of any help.

WELCOME!

[ChrisV321]

First timer from Florida here too, best of luck to ya!

[weirdscience]

first timer from florida here also

[AntiM]

First timer from Florida here too, best of luck to ya!

And here I thought you were from Canada.

You do understand law enforcement reads the board too?

[junglesmacks]

You do understand law enforcement reads the board too?

Lol.. what did he do wrong? Are you talking about the avatar?

[AntiM]

You do understand law enforcement reads the board too?

Lol.. what did he do wrong? Are you talking about the avatar?

That would be a big yes. I mean, he can have that if he wants, no rule against it... well, if you're real strict about the TOS, then yeah, but there are some things in life which are best left unadvertised. A personal opinion. Feel free to ignore it.

[firefro]

Glad to see i am not the only first timer from FL.

I do have a question on gifts. I have read up on this a little but i wanted to hear from the veterans what type of gifts are best for burning man.

I understand that they should be useful and not something that will simply add to the trash.

Is thia correct?

[AntiM]

Correct. However, your first year, a gift can be as simple as enthusiastic appreciation of the whole thing, a helping hand, and a dedication to MOOPing.

[weirdscience]

where in florida are you?

[junglesmacks]

there are some things in life which are best left unadvertised. A personal opinion.

Agreed.

Regarding the question of gifting, I loved this article in the BRC weekly this last burn written by our very own Eric. Take it as gospel.

[lucky420]

Hello and a hearty welcome to all you Floridians...

[junglesmacks]

Hello and a hearty welcome to all you Floridians...

Everytime I hear the word "hearty", I immediately think of chunky soup.. not sure why..

[ChrisV321]

Avatar changed. Wasn't planning on discussing anything illegal on here for the record. 8)

[weirdscience]

lmfao im the only burner on the forums from westpalm lmfao

[firefro]

Hey Junglesmacks,

I like the truck rental idea. I have looked up the demensions of the truck and have a general idea of how i can design it to be a "room". I was curious how you set yours up.

[weirdscience]

jungle i like your idea but how do you get major stuff there like bikes and such also wouldn't it look bad when my bags goes through xray there's 4 12 foot and 4 7 foot wires with boxes attached to them? (el wire)

[firefro]

I plan on renting or buying most everything in Nevada weirdscience.

You could also ship things out there to yourself before you arrive.

Then at the end of the burn i will either ship all the stuff i bought back to Florida or most likely donate it to other burners.

[junglesmacks]

jungle i like your idea but how do you get major stuff there like bikes and such also wouldn't it look bad when my bags goes through xray there's 4 12 foot and 4 7 foot wires with boxes attached to them? (el wire)

For my bike, I just bought a new one at Walmart for $57. I camped with an awesome group of people from Sacramento, and one of the ladies volunteered to take it home with her and bring it back next year. She insisted. There are also used bikes everywhere for around $40. As the burn gets closer, people will start advertising.

Yeah, security looks at you a little funny.. I had a 300' spool of speaker wire, metallic pants, glowies, all kinds of stuff in my carry on. They check it, but it's no biggie. Nothing is illegal.

For my truck setup, I found a lady to donate a sofa and loveseat set for free off of Craigslist. I put the loveseat against the back of the truck facing forward, and the other on the side of the truck towards the gate. I used the space inbetween as the storage area. I bought a couple of large grey snap bins from Walamart ($6/each) and used one for food, and one for clothes and misc. I stacked cases of beer and whatever around. I partied and slept on the main couch along the side, and flipped over a box as my "coffee table". I used 2 strings of solar powered christmas lights for my night time lighting.. stretched on on either side of the truck. The truck has rafters along the side to tie/hang stuff from.

To sleep, I would just close the gate. It breathed and let in plenty of air.. in fact it was SUPER comfy. It would hold just enough heat from the day to not get way cold inside at night, and it would hold the cool air through the day until around 1-2 until it got hot. I couldn't ask for better climate control or shade structure. When you are chilling out inside during the day or want privacy, just close the back slide door half - 2/3 down. Enough to let light in and breath but people only see your feet when they walk by.

For the windstorms/dust factor.. omg it ruled. Since you are like 4 feet off the ground and its open underneath you, the dust blows around but not AT you. You aren't in the dirt.. you are comfortably above it. I was in there for one wind storm during the day and just closed the door and chilled out. Almost none blew in, but I had plenty of light and air. I didn't feel shut in at all. You'll be surprised.

There is TONS of space inside of one of those things.. way more than one person needs. You could throw a party in one. I actually had people wanting to hang out in it all the time, and more than once (ok, maybe almost every night..) had a nighttime visitor or two.

I was also amazed at how gas efficient it was.. I used only $65 in gas to go from Reno to BRC to Carson City.


The only thing I would do different next time as far as the truck goes is bring some kind of tapestry or something to hang in the tailgate area so that I didnt have to slide the door open and close all the time. Something thick.. then weight it at the bottom with something. I don't know. Other than that, zero complaints.

Now.. things I'll do different next burn.. that's another story.

- Bring a fraction of the clothes you think you will need. In the end, youll have a favorite pair of day pants, and a fav pair of night pants. The end. Some long underwear and a fleece.. you're set.

- Bring half as much food and twice as much water as you think youll need. Every bit of 2 gallons/person/day. They tack on 2 extra gallons.

You'll learn the rest by then. Long story short: Don't overthink this. It isn't the moon, and it's really not a big deal especially with us being from Florida. The heat and sun is MINOR compared to here. Wear the same shoes you always wear. Shit, i said f it and went out 24/7 in my Rainbow flip flops by Wednesday and zero problems with "playa foot".

I could go on and on. If you guys have questions, I'll be glad to help.. but wait until we get closer so that you actually remember it and I'm not repeating myself.. lol

[junglesmacks]

I plan on renting or buying most everything in Nevada weirdscience.

You could also ship things out there to yourself before you arrive.

Then at the end of the burn i will either ship all the stuff i bought back to Florida or most likely donate it to other burners.

FYI Joe at Budget Rental on Gentry is SUPER cool.. he offered to let us ship stuff to him and he will have it waiting for you when you get there. But.. I would recommend getting it all together at your own house and then shipping one or maybe two boxes max straight to him. You honestly dont need more stuff than that anyway, especially since you get one carry on plus just check one bag at the airport. You can fit everything you need easily between two bags plus getting some stuff in Reno.. Serious.

[weirdscience]

jungle is so helpful i love him or her or w/e it is

[Token]

jungle is so helpful i love him or her or w/e it is

+1

Junglesmack is actually Pat.

[weirdscience]

jungle is so helpful i love him or her or w/e it is

+1

Junglesmack is actually Pat.

patricia or patrick lol

[Shambala]

jungle is so helpful i love him or her or w/e it is

+1

Junglesmack is actually Pat.

patricia or patrick lol

Yes, that is correct!

[junglesmacks]

Junglesmacks apparently drinks way too much coffee and dreams about Burning Man too much, also. He also likes to talk in third person about himself.

[Shambala]

Junglesmacks apparently drinks way too much coffee and dreams about Burning Man too much, also. He also likes to talk in third person about himself.

Jimmy likes Elaine. Jimmy thinks Elaine is hot.