Days until The Man burns
Days until The Man burns
Burning Man 2024
Feel free to join in or wander off, and ignore (or adopt (or mutate)) most of this advice!
PLAN
The Burn
It’s helpful to familiarize yourself with the 10 Principles. There won’t be a quiz, but these 10 principles will probably all be tested throughout the week (especially radical self-reliance). Burning Man is a harsh desert environment where there are no stores or vendors other than coffee, tea, and ice. Porta-Potties are placed in banks around the city. I try to leave them better than I found them. Speaking of “ew”, the black rock desert will coat everything you bring in a fine layer of beige alkaline dust, and the weather can range from amazingly amazing to dangerously dangerous. As unreal as Burning Man might seem, it is very real and hardship might become a part of your experience. The ticket warns the bearer of serious injury or death. All that said: Burning Man is fucking awesome. Here’s a timeline of its past history.
BMOrg’s official page on playa living
Roll Call
Are you planning on camping with us again this year? Let me know as soon as possible and I’ll add you to the roster before our camp fills up! We are trying to keep our numbers low, so talk to us before inviting anyone new. The answer is always “of course!” and new people are RAD but it if we don’t have the space or if it’s a large group then we can quickly become a collection of strangers.
Early Arrival Team
If you’d like to help set up camp or art before the gates open on Saturday night at midnight then please let me know. There are only a few passes distributed to us every year, so hit me up soon!
PNF FB
The Post Nuclear Family Facebook page is set as a private group, let me know if you need an invite. Because we are managing our growth, please do not apply to join the group unless you are planning to camp with us or have camped with us in the past. It’s not just another FB forum for “ttitd“, it’s a place for our online community to plan, regroup, visit, and share. Let me know if you have someone to add to the group so that I know which person to approve.
TICKETS
Before buying a ticket at the Burning Man (BMOrg) site you must create a “burner profile“.
Here’s the Burning Man ticket page.
There are additional rounds of ticket sales throughout the year, some at lower prices, even. The process can be tricky and stressful, but if you look you will probably find your ticket (and a vehicle pass for each car that drives onto the playa). Usually, tickets “manifest” in amazing ways if you’re open to possibilities and communicate your needs (and sign up for the STEP program). If you are helping Post Nuclear Family set up or break down and are providing some awesome infrastructure please contact us to be added to the “Steward Sale” ticket list (which ends months before the Main Sale begins). BMOrg sets aside some tickets every year for the artists and camps that make burning man rad.
PREPARATION
Newbies
If this is your first burn then you might be overwhelmed by how much there is to fuck up. In reality, you will be fine. I know someone that showed up in shorts and a tee shirt and decided to give away his clothes as he entered the gate and walked through naked. By the end of the week he had a wardrobe of costumes, had eaten every day, and had enough water that he somehow didn’t die of dehydration. Don’t be that guy, but I recommend not being too afraid of being unprepared, and enjoy the process of preparing yourself. As far as “comforts of home” this is arguably a good opportunity to rough it. i.e. Think of the burn as more of a journey than a vacation. That said: be prepared! (lulz)
COPS
Recreational cannabis is legal in Nevada but this is federal land managed by the BLM so they are looking for people puffing. If a stranger is asking for any drugs, no matter how “cool” they seem or how long they’ve been hanging out, it may be a police set-up. In past events they could even be a busted burner who made a deal with the cops to bust someone else for a lesser penalty. Some come dressed as a group of burners: a cross dresser who’s twin sister has a lesbian girlfriend, and they dance with you and your friend for an hour, and then ask if you “have anything”. You share it without asking for money, and then you’re surrounded by cops. True story of our neighbor. $10k in legal fees, no record but fuuuuuuck. The point of that story is the story itself: they’re not busting people all the time, but they make grand theater out of it so just don’t be the star of that show. Do not allow police to search your tent because they will take that invitation to search our whole camp. Don’t let anyone see you do anything, and politely assume that all strangers are potentially narcotics officers. If a stranger is looking to score, they are not being “radically self-reliant”. The good news is that the arrests are statistically rare and they only happen when they see it. The police are not trying to arrest everyone, they’re trying to make examples. So keep it out of sight while you go out of mind.
DO NOT get caught doing drugs on the art cars! It puts every passenger at risk for search.
Burning Man has a team of amazing volunteers called “Black Rock Rangers” that are there to assist us. They look like forest rangers in their khakis, and they’re unusually friendly and helpful. They are not affiliated with the police, but you should still not do anything illegal around them. That said: if you need help in the wild then they’re the ones to ask. If you’re looking for a safe and legal place to return to sobriety the Zendo Project has a tent near the Rampart Medical Clinic on the Esplanade near the Center Camp inroad.
Survival Checklist
Burning Man has an online survival checklist. I think it’s useful for inspiration but it goes too far. Our camp will have fire extinguishers, a well stocked first aid kit, and an emergency poop bucket, a camp stove/kitchen, so there’s no need to get those things or many others. Coordinate with friends, if someone is bringing 1000 batteries then you might want to chip in to their purchase to get the ones you might need.
You’ll want a little more than a gallon of fresh water per day, and lots of food that’s easy to heat up or add hot water. The camp kitchen is perfect for boiling water.
Be aware of “Playa foot“. It sneaks up a little by not seeming like a problem until your feet start to crack and then it’s like a blister that just gets worse and worse until it’s finally fine again around a week or two after the burn. Playa foot can make walking hard, since every step feels like you’re splitting your skin. It affects many people, though some lucky folk are apparently pH balanced to handle the alkaline dust. We will have a basin to soak your feet in but you will want to bring moisturizing lotion. O’Keefe’s “Working Hands” is a good goo for feet and hands.
It may be tempting to visit Wal-Mart along the way. They are a super convenient shopping megaplex that has 24-hour service in Reno with a burning man section in the back of their store. I try to stop supporting them so it’s easy to pass on by, it just takes knowing that you’ve got everything which is not always the case.
Here’s what BMOrg has to say about surviving.
Art Spaces
Starship Qubit
Qubit will be on the lawn every day from 11am to 3pm to give people rides around the multiverse. Join the crew and blow some minds. Besides a mutant vehicle Starship Qubit is also a starship simulator. To know more about it contact me and I’ll get you on the discourse on Discord, but the main thing to know is that Starship Qubit is a real science fiction starship and everyone is invited to explore.
The Black Light Scaffolding Lounge/Nuclear Containment Facility
We have black lights and tape and UV reactive décor to play with. If you bring day glow tape, paint, makeup, costumes, props, etc. we will all be stoked.
LightPool inside of the Post Nuclear Reactor Dome
“Housed inside the “Post Nuclear Reactor” dive into a pool of kinetic spores. Witness how your touch and movement activates their energy, creating a beautiful display of light. Ponder how we all create ripple effects through the universe with our actions. Splash, flash, or lay back and relax. Travel through space listening to music, rolling in balls, and taking in 360 degree visuals.”
A motion-activated LED ball pool inside of the 20’ geodesic dome. The dome will also feature a DJ booth/stage to feature musical performances. If enough funds are raised, we will add a projector and projection liner to display digital art, creating a fully-immersive and multi-sensory experience. Contact Stephanie if you want to help participants navigate the photons.
1 Minute Playa Portrait
Phil Flash will be photographing passersby all week on the corner. Stop by on your way out to get a portrait of your awesome costumes.
Free Electroshock Therapy (& Electric Dunkaroos)
There’s a whole page devoted to Free Electroshock Therapy. If you would like to administer therapy then let a licensed practitioner school you in the ways. Make sure not to use the cattle prod in a way that’s cruel or sadistic or that makes people want to avoid our camp. If you always pretend to be an asshole then you are always an asshole.
Note: Volunteers only and let them know: yes, it is a real cattle prod! If you talk people into it or trick them then the participant loses their agency in the decision and we’re just abusing them.
Zen Tarot
Feeling whelmed? Trying to make sense of what happened last night? Last week? Last year? Ready for your next transition and in need of fresh perspective? The answers are already within you; we channel the tarot and the magic of the playa to guide you forward. On a good day, we won’t even use cards and will read the entire world around us. Also, we have the best hugs on the playa.
Camp Beacon: The Post Nuclear Family Sign
Muppet’s fabrication of the PNF sign will be hanging from Scott’s Tripod on our street corner. Come dig it!
CAMP
We won’t yet know our camp location for 2024 until around June.
Our street address for 2023 was around 5 and E.
Living Room
We have a YELLOW roof and a flowing fabric façade that lights up with blacklight at night so we are fully, fully rad. After all the shade solutions we’ve had over the years we are now fully legit.
The living room is your place to unwind, relax, soak your feet, pass out, tell a story, etc. It will get messy as all BM living rooms do, but it’s a good policy to MOOP it when it’s getting sloppy.
If you want to contribute rugs or pillows to the environment please do.
New Façade and Signage
NEW FRONTAGE! NEW SIGNAGE! We are legit, folks! Thank you Muppet for realizing the sign in vinyl and thank you Grant for taking our shade structure to the next level!
The Cooling Tower
We are going to stack our scaffolding up tall. Mount it at your own risk, and if you’ve been drinking you may want to be careful to bring a cocktail with you so that you don’t have to climb back down to get another. You may want to bring extras for those already up there.
Camp Shower
Zach has upgraded the shower to pure awesome. If you’re unclear about how to operate it, ask around until you find someone that knows who the Small Team is for the shower.
There are instructions to follow at each step, starting with the most important one: refill the water to the fill line. Even if you’re just taking a quick rinse, it’s important that the fill line stays high so that the pump doesn’t burn out.
Bring your own water for showers, and don’t refill the tank when you’re done using it. Note: The shower drain is for soapy shower water only, no urine or kitchen water no matter how clean it seems or how much you should have peed before taking a shower. This area gets messy fast, so please be conscientous of so many Nukies sharing a single shower. Even if you brought a lot of water it’s a good idea to take quick showers to keep the tank from filling prematurely.
The main shower tank is getting drained on Sunday morning, so that’s the last of the showers so that it can be packed up and ready to leave the playa.
The BMOrg policy is: “NO PUBLIC SHOWERS” unless groups have explicit permission, which involves inspectors and managed conditions. Your own guests can use the shower if you or they provide their own water and you make sure to take responsibility for them, but we are not offering the shower as a public service.
Open “Bar”
We don’t have a bar, but we certainly have alcohol around. Shut Up and Drink It will be served all week. It’s a perfect blend of shut up and drink it. Feel free to announce cocktails and pass around beers or add alcohol bottles to the kitchen. Make sure not to give alcohol to underage visitors without checking for ID because it’s sometimes a sting operation. (The cop scene out there is not that bad, but when it’s bad it suddenly is very bad.)
Note: If anyone has an event, please let me know and we’ll add it to this site.
(We’ve been spammed by attack robots, so we have to do things manually.)
Camp Kitchen
Our camp kitchen is for everyone to use. We have a propane stove with plenty of gas, PNF cookware, and some spices. Please clean up the prep area and dishes when you are finished. Note: It’s easy to assume that when the fire is out that the stove is off, but make sure to turn off both the stove and close the propane tank valve when the cooking is done.
We love sharing food, but please don’t leave extra food in the kitchen and expect other people to know it’s available for them. If you make something and want to share it, bring it around with you and offer it. If you’re donating food to camp, make sure that a campmate accepts responsibility for it.
Pro(pane) tips:
- Try to boil only as much water as you need to reduce the amount of gas needed to heat it
- Check around if anyone else wants hot water, and add more as needed
- Check around if anyone wants in on some of your food to share (there are lots of vegetarians, vegans, and gluten free people so it’s helpful to know your ingredients)
- Bring a bowl and utensils when someone shares food with you, and if you’re feeling extra grateful you can add something to the meal and/or help clean the dishes. Please always clean up after yourself (dishes, garbage, leftovers)
- Clean your pots and pans on the quick side of slow. No rush, just let’s not get gross
Water
We usually have a 2.5 gallon water jug in the kitchen for convenience, but everyone needs to be responsible for your own water. If you have an extra water jug it’s cool to replace empties in the kitchen.
Gray Water
Gray water is the leftover gross water you generate when you clean dishes or wash gross things. After years and years of varying success dealing with all the disgusting water that a camp generates, in 2015 we tried an experiment and it worked beautifully: contain and carry out your own gray water. We have seen too many evap ponds fill up and not “evaporate”, and whenever there’s a single collection point it automatically gets sloshy and requires work to maintain it and a hazmat suit to deal with it. Gray water ponds also inspire people to be more wasteful with their dishwater. But a single person using water responsibly only generates about a gallon or two jugs of gross water over the course of a week. Use an opaque container with a wide mouth so it’s easy to pour into it and you don’t see the grossness floating inside it. Take it off the playa yourself.
You can keep your water usage to a minimum by eating everything off your plates and cooking pans, wipe it “clean” with a napkin, then spritz it with a misty water sprayer. If you do it with only a little water you can actually drink your remaining food before adding a little soap, and a final wipe, and you’re done. You can even throw away the paper towel. No sloshy water to deal with. If you’re cooking meat you may want to involve more water and soap, but it’s still not that bad. If you generate more water than a napkin can wipe then you can use your large mouthed gray water jug with a screw on cap to collect your gray water all week. This seems to work a lot better than all the other solutions I’ve seen over the years. Paper plates may seem wasteful, but they burn nicely and don’t generate any gray water. Do not pour your gray water on the ground or in the portapotties, even if it’s just a little. It’s against the rules, and while it may seem harmless to pour it out in the portapotties they overfill and then the rest of them start getting even grosser, fast.
Sharing Food
We don’t have camp meals, so we don’t have camp chores, or planned menus. This keeps us all free to share food with each other on our own terms, clean up after ourselves, and eat what we want, every day, whenever. If you are making something and have extra, you can call out around and people can join in with their bowl and fork, or even adding something to the meal. Popular things to share are fresh and natural, or real; typically foods that come in their own packaging, like avocados, bananas, tomatoes, apples, watermelon, etc. Veggies, fruits, and meat rots pretty quick out in the desert so it’s better to use it earlier in the week and save your packaged and vacuum sealed foods for later. Many people in camp are some combination of gluten-free, sugar-free, unprocessed, vegetarian, non-dairy, kosher, etc., but don’t let that stop you from offering a shank of partially hydrogenated GMO panda meat. Items labelled PNF are for general use.
Dasha turned us on to prepping food at home and then vacuum sealing and freezing it so that it keeps your cooler cold and it’s easy to heat in boiling water without generating any gray water. Ask around in camp if you want to borrow a vacuum sealer before you go.
Zoölogical note: Things marked PNF are fair game, but I only ask that you not use pots and pans and knives marked “Siadek” on animals, and please don’t store meat in coolers marked “Siadek”. But the camp kitchen is available to all diets and lifestyles.
If you have any restrictions or special foods that are not meant to be shared or something special to share with everyone, then please speak up!
Ice
Ice is available at Arctica stations (at center camp and the 9 and 3 spoke portals, 9am – 6pm daily, closing finally at noon on Labor Day). It’s cash only and costs $3 for cubes or a big block. Ice runners are heroically making regular ice-runs. If you’re part of a group mission, check around the camp to see who else needs ice, and help carry and distribute bags. Be prepared to get your own ice if you miss the camp call. Un-attended ice will be distributed to whichever coolers will fit them. It’s a “snooze/lose” situation, so be proactive about your cooler levels. If people return with your ice, it’s a good time to get up and get it before it gets left out or claimed.
If you don’t use it for shower water, you can drain your cooler water in large arcs away from foot paths so that you don’t create a muddy pool, and make sure to MOOP it before draining it for any material floating in it. Even little particles of food are considered MOOP. A good place to drain clean cooler water is out on the road and if anyone yells at you make sure to let them know that the water trucks dump thousands of gallons of water out on the road.
Camp Garbage
Even though we’re each responsible for our own garbage, our camp generates a lot of communal garbage. This is a “leave no trace” event and we should all be responsible for our own garbage. It starts at home by removing extraneous packaging, but everything awful you generate should be in a stinky bag in your car when you leave. The camp trailer will have a lot of camp garbage on it, but we can’t take your personal garbage. Basically put your own MOOP in your own garbage bags and save the camp MOOP for random bits of ew. Do not bring styrofoam or anything else that creates microscopic MOOP.
We’re going to have =4= separate trash bins for:
- Burnables (cardboard, wood, paper)
- Recyclable Cans (the recycling camp only takes crushed aluminum, not bottles or tin)
- Recyclables (bottles (see “bottles” below), tin cans, aluminum, plastic)
- Garbage (ew)
When using these communal bins to sort everything out correctly, crush cans, remove plastic from burnables, etc. If our communal trash area is neat it will be neat-o. If a can is full, please remove that bag, tie it up, place it behind the kitchen, and replace it with a fresh bag. The garbage bags will be near the cans. At some point we will inevitably need to sort trash again because not everyone will know which thing goes where. It’s not a big deal and there’s no need to stress over it, but the more organized we try to be the more organized we will actually be.
The River
Each camper places themselves along a virtual “bank” to define a walkway that makes S turns back and forth. Set up wherever you like along the bank of the river to watch people and things float by. The goal is to be able to walk a friend with their bike from the front of camp all the way to any tent without ducking or tripping over things along the way. We can help you figure out how to define the bank of the river, and to avoid the prevailing winds and to provide shade for people around you, but it’s ultimately up to you where you go. Everyone has a lot of dear friends in camp, but I would caution against trying to form a protective bubble around people you already know. There are so many opportunities to see each other around the camp, it’s sometimes refreshing to get some distance so that you can have a place to either find or lose yourself. This is not a “cafeteria cool kids table” situation, it’s your home to claim a space and go explore.
Note: Some camps have little black rectangles where campers are assigned, but PNF doesn’t. If you make a plan with some friends to camp somewhere in particular but then it turns out that there’s a noisy thing, or a terrible view, or myriad other factors then feel free to move your tent.
How to Help
Make sure that you take care of yourself, first. If you’re doing fine then there are lots of ways to help out around camp and around the playa. Pick up MOOP wherever you see it, even if it seems too small to care about or silly to chase it blowing in the wind. If you want to offer water to someone that looks beat I recommend drinking some first in case they drink it all. Helping with the truck load on both ends makes the whole process go smoother. Try to have patience and forgiveness, especially when altered states of consciousness (or exhaustion!) are involved.
This camp is designed around a family of friends, and we each put in what we want to get out. Let’s all be different and help in our different ways. If you think someone isn’t helping because they’re not busting a sweat then you might be looking at them through sweaty eyes.
Art Cars
While it’s seductive to ride on art cars all week, make sure to get off and go exploring. We always like to make room for all the fellow playa wanderers. Plan on being surprised by opportunities to ride. That said, I look forward to being surrounded by my favorite people, listening to new favorite music, while we explore this thoroughly, thoroughly amazing place.
LOADING UP AND MOVING OUT
We may have a trailer loading day before the burn in Los Angeles. Announcements will be announced!
We could use all hands to get things packed nicely onto the trailer. This is a volunteer mission. You can arrive late, leave early, help load only your things, or stay all day and help us lug all the stuff from all over town.
If you would like to contribute toward the trailer’s journey to and from burning man for the camp infrastructure (whether you have things on the trailer or not) then consider making a donation. Whatever money we get goes into rentals, fuels, upgrades, and sustenance.
Storage Unit Address: The storage facility is pretty well-hidden behind the parking lot at:
1 Chapman Way
El Segundo, CA 90245It’s just South of Alaska on Douglas Street. Call Jason Siadek if you need access to the security code, or follow us in.
The First Transport Is Away! (Monday, August 18th, 2024)
Starship Qubit begins its intrepid journey to the playa.
EARLY ARRIVAL ON PLAYA (Tuesday, August 19th)
Early settlers will start setting up Post Nuclear Family
SATURDAY NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT: THE GATE OPENS
ALL WEEK
AFTERNOON
From 11am to 3pm Starship Qubit will be parked in camp for friends to get inside and explore the multiverse.
LATE AFTERNOON
SUNSET
We don’t have planned meals or scheduled chores. Be prepared to feed and clean up after yourself. If anyone wants to share food, go for it. There are a lot of vegans and vegetarians in camp and a lot of people don’t want gluten, so if you plan on sharing please keep those various things in mind. THE KITCHEN is for everyone, so feel free to cook up a storm. We have strategic reserves if we ever get low on gas (which we never have). Anyone who wants to share news from the day and plans for the night should come on home around dinner time.
SUNDAY:SUNDAY, AUGUST 25th, 2024: BURNING MAN BEGINS!
The gates open on Saturday at midnight! The line is long, it is not infinite. Be prepared to wait. Meet the cool people around you. Relax. Act casual on adult drinks because the police are very serious about DUIs, even on the surface of the playa and at 0mph.
MONDAY: JACK SHIT
Afternoon: Starship Qubit
The whole week is yours to burn but Monday night is especially open without schedules so that you can finish up setting your camp and any last minute decorations or whatever it is you want to do to make your burn amazing.
TUESDAY: “TU-TU TUESDAY” if you’re into that sort of thing
Afternoon: Starship Qubit
WEDNESDAY: ANIMAL NIGHT
Afternoon: Starship Qubit
Nighttime: Inhabit your spirit animal! Gather at camp (and bikes and other art cars) in whatever animal form you take and we’ll go out onto the playa in full effect. If the art cars are full you may need to bike along.
THURSDAY: ULTRA VIOLET PORTRAIT NIGHT
9:45am: The Sensatron is on a mission to bring people with mobility issues out to see art on the playa. According to the coördinator we can now take people to art beyond just the funded ones! Note: We want to make sure there’s room for the scheduled passengers so this is not a call out for participation.
Afternoon: Starship Qubit
Nighttime: When it’s dark there will also be opportunities to do black light portraiture. Bring props, UV reactive face/body paint, costume pieces, black lights and ultra violet radiation galore. If you have UV reactive body paints, makeup and costume props to lend then rad! (literally)
FRIDAY NIGHT: SPACE NIGHT
Afternoon: Starship Qubit
9PM: Fill up your tanks with the best fuel for Outer Space! (our technicians recommend 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% Argon). We’ll buzz the spacey art and visit the observatory and maybe see if we can find any of our home worlds.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON CLEAN UP CREW
FINAL RECYCLING RUN
According to their website the recycling camp packs up on Sunday at 5pm, but they don’t like to be overwhelmed, so we’ll get them early on Saturday with our crushed cans (only).
SATURDAY NIGHT: THE MAN BURNS
We’ll drive Starship Qubit out in the late afternoon to post up somewhere to watch the man burn.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON: MOOP PATROL & CAMP STRIKE BEGINS
Afternoon: We’ll start breaking camp down, leaving the Kitchen last.
Let’s take Starship Qubit out for a massive MOOP patrol and clean the desert! If you’re leaving before Sunday make sure to MOOP in your final hours to maximize your minimal impact. We MOOP all week, but the MOOP gyre builds toward the end.
Evening: We’ll drive the Qubit out before Sunset to post up and watch the temple burn.
MONDAY: CAMP STRIKE CONCLUDES & EXODUS
Final load of the trailers on playa. Some people will stay behind to extract what remaining triptonium we can find at the Propane Party on Monday night.
If you have to leave before the truck is packed make sure to bundle all of your stuff together and LABEL it clearly, and place it near the truck.
Don’t leave gear behind without giving it to someone personally, even if it’s food or water.Driving Away
If you’re driving away on Saturday or Sunday and sometimes even Monday you might get caught in a “pulse” release of cars, turn off your engine after each pulse. They tend to pulse every 60 minutes or so, so it’s waaaay better to start the car than leave it running.Don’t throw away your garbage in local trashcans along the way. You can bring it to specific places:
http://survival.burningman.com/leave-no-trace/pack-it-out/#.UZMgKpVk4qY
TUESDAY: EXODUS FOR THE RESTOFUS
Morning: After final looks the trailer drives away from a clean patch of playa.
**TUESDAY NIGHT** SEPTEMBER 3RD IN LOS ANGELES
The Trailer Returns to the Storage Unit!
We would appreciate ALL HANDS unloading the trailer back at the Storage Unit in El Segundo. Do not leave your personal camping gear in the storage unit or it will be CLAIMED or DESTROYED!
TIPS
- Be cool, neighborly, learn names if you’re feeling bold. Go on adventures with some of these familiar “strangers” you’re camping with. Everyone is one or two degrees of separation from a dear friend, including our actual neighbors all around us and beyond.
- Try to put your stuff away. Make sure things don’t blow around. Anything glass will get knocked over or shatter, so avoid glass and if you see a situation getting precarious you may want to get involved. The beautiful wine glasses dancing on the fluttering tablecloth in “Amélie” were actually made of plastic. When winds pick up it’s good to look around camp and see what needs battening.
- Stake your tent down, and light your tent stakes if you can, solar lamps are great. If you can light your tent frontage along the river it will make a nice path. Cover the sharp points of your tent stakes and aim the guy lines away from walking areas. If anyone has to step over a guy line to get by, it’s in the wrong place.
- MOOP the camp regularly throughout the day. If you ever have spare energy, take a moment to roam around looking for feathers, bottle caps, zip tie fragments, barbie heads, and… well that’s pretty much it. Feel free to deposit random camp MOOP in the camp’s trash bins.
- Keep your water bottle full, make sure you have some whenever you go out. Check out your water supply throughout the week, if you have too much water for the week, share your water in the kitchen. If you have too little, bum some off anyone that offers. That said: don’t drink too much water when you’re rolling.
- Spit your toothpaste out into your trash.
- You may want to bring baby wipes for vicar’s baths, cotton swabs for your ears, medicated powder for your crotch, earplugs for your butt, and buttplugs for your friends. Also eye masks are great for attempting to sleep while the sun decides otherwise.
- If you see someone struggling with something heavy or awkward, you might consider jumping up like a hero and saving the day, but you don’t have to.
- Make that crucial choice whether to go back out or not, and love your decision.
- Get shade when you can. Wide brim hats are useful, and parasols, too, but they’re a drag to carry.
- Pithy truisms: Enjoy yourself. This too shall pass. Let it go. If you’re feeling generally fucked try to remember HALT, you might be: “hungry? angry? lonely? tired?”
