“Stay away from campgrounds that offer ‘services’ like hair stylists, hair and makeup artists, staff, or anyone offering lodging and admission,” says Feldman. “These are red flags. The people camping there probably won’t be all that fun, and the entire campground could shut down in the middle of a fire and you’ll be stuck without shelter, food, water, etc.”
If you want a more sustainable campsite, look for one that takes their food scraps to a composting campsite, collects cans to take to the recycling campsite, and has some sort of solar system.
One trick to determine how good a camp is is to check how it fared in terms of Without a trace Last year, when the Burning Man crew does a playa sweep after everything is over, they note down how much MOOP (matter out of place, or trash) is left at each camp site. If the camp is in the red, that’s a bad sign.
Determine your shelter
Your shelter options include a tent, camper, or trailer. You can also try a Pod of changea reflective shelter designed by burners for desert camping.
Wood burning enthusiasts will swear over and over that you don’t need air conditioning to enjoy burning, just a battery-powered fan for your tent, but that may not be the case for long. Near Reno, Nevada, It is warming faster than any other city Due to climate change.
“Even though I hate air conditioners because they’re bad for the environment, they can save lives if it’s hot,” Collins says. He says you can find a used air conditioner for between $200 and $500. If your campsite doesn’t have electricity, you’ll need to bring a small generator (solar panels can’t power an air conditioner).
If you’re tent camping, make sure your campsite has a quiet, shaded, or even air-conditioned shared living area where you can take a nap during the day. Or, find out where friends who have air conditioning are staying, in case of emergency.
He hexayurt Shelters built from taped-together insulation panels used to be more popular, but they’re a pain to build and transport, so the Shiftpod, an insulated dome that sleeps two comfortably, has largely taken its placeIn fact, both Collins and Rueben Pacheco, who attended his first burn in 2009 and drives a gnome-themed art car to the beach, own a Shiftpod. Feldman bought a trailer many years ago, but might get a Shiftpod in the future.
The Shiftpod sells for $1,600, comes in a large carry bag, and can be set up in 20 minutes. It keeps dust out pretty well, and people who stayed in it during last year’s deluge reported that their floors stayed dry. “Seriously, a great investment,” Collins says.
Many of the participants who fly into a nearby city choose to pick up an RV to complete the trip. With its built-in air conditioning, beds, stove, and refrigerator, it’s more comfortable and lighter to pack. It’s also much more comfortable than a car in a 12-hour exodus line. The downside is the expense (budget at least $2,000 per person for rental, fees, and gas) and stress of driving that lumbering monster around Reno and in and out of Black Rock City, especially since Burning Man’s governing body, the Org, banned RV delivery starting last year. Oh, and RVs are, without a doubt, the most polluting shelter at Burning Man, with a big carbon footprint and generator draw, which means more noise and particulate pollution on the playa.
Decide how you will get there
You can get there (in order of cost) by taking the Burner Bus, driving your own car, driving an RV, or flying.
