A Virgin Burning Man Story

The story of my first Burning Man experience in 2013 going solo and not knowing what to expect.

Ryan Lum

Published in

Travel Narrative

11 min readMar 29, 2014

Chapter 1: Before the Burn

Burning Man is a week long event held in Nevada in which people from all over the world gather and erect a city in the middle of a desert. I can’t quite tell you why I’ve been wanting to go for so many years. Perhaps it’s because it’s unlike anything in the World.

It will be my first time at Burning Man and I will be going solo. My initial thoughts of Burning Man is pretty scattered.

I’d imagine a bunch of hippies dancing with fire, bizarre costumes, naked people, lots of bikes and hopefully friendly people.

I know I’m just going to feel like I’m in a different world.

I bought my ticket 3 days before the actual event starts. Hell, some people are actually already there. I have no preparation, but I’ve been trying to ask as many people as possible to get a better understanding of what to expect. They also have handy survival guides to help you understand what to do and what not to do.

I ended up going to a couchsurfing meetup for Burning Man so that I can meet some people and stop by their respective camps and say hello. I think it would be nice to see some faces that I know. I have no camp and not many of my friends are going. It’s going to be a very interesting experience. Thankfully, I consider myself fairly outgoing so I really hope to make some friends out there and meet some friendly faces. The couchsurfing meetup was helpful as I met a bunch of people and hope to see them out there.

Going solo, not having a camp, not even remotely prepared…it’s safe to say that I’m a bit nervous. I have no idea what to expect and more importantly, I hope to even make it out there without getting lost.

I plan on driving out there with some supplies and finding a place to set up a tent or sleep in my car.

Feelings? Excited. Nervous. Unprepared.

3 Main things on my mind:

Keep trying to meet other Burners to find a camp
Meet more people going to Burning Man in general so I can stop by and say hi. (honestly I don’t know what else you’d do there other than go camp to camp and meeting people)
Buy a LOT of stuff and hope Amazon can ship fast (scared because it will most likely be a couple hundred just to ship a couple things).

The Arrival

I don’t know even how to explain it. So lets just start from the beginning.

I ended up finding a camp by finding someone who needed a ride to Burning Man through craigslist. It seemed like there was a bunch of people in need of last-minute rides and tickets.

The drive up was actually surprisingly easy. I ended up leaving Wednesday night and didn’t have to fight much traffic at all.

TIP: Drive safe as there were a LOT of police stopping people in the Gerlach area. Read the tips on the Burning Man website as they will stop drivers over for the smallest things like bikes covering license plates.

We arrived at about 2am and only waited for about an hour or two. The line to to get in was also not too bad. I was actually told that this year they hit capacity and had to deny people who even had tickets. They had to wait well over 6 hours. I was also told that people trying to get in early had to wait awhile too.

TIP: Leave earlier in the week, but try to avoid peak days and hours. I’m thinking Monday,Tuesday or Wednesday at night is a good time.

So once I got in, I had to perform the ritual by ringing the bell and screaming, “I’m no longer a virgin”. You’re also supposed to roll in the dust; however, apparently I didn’t have to do it.

Afterwards, you’re welcomed with a big hug and a “Welcome home brother.” Then it’s off to the camp!

Pre Burn Tips

Shop early. Some people prepare months in advance. Certain stores start to run out of supplies as Burning Man comes closer.
Don’t be afraid. Open your mind to truly have the best experience.
Consider renting a larger car, you’ll end up packing a lot more than you expected. Also it might be nice to have enough space to ride with others.

Chapter 2: The Day Magnet Was Born

So there I was, in the middle of a desert surrounded by over 61,000 other burners. It’s night time but you can’t see the stars. As you look around in the night, you see glowing art cars in the distance, people on glowing and blinking bicycles and loud thumping music. It’s a magical place.

First, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Ryan; however, on the Playa i’ve been named Magnet.

It was the first real day out on the playa. I was riding with the rest of my camp and exploring the playa and checking out some other camps. I was picking out some free necklaces when all of a sudden a man in black comes over to our group and says, “Who needs a playa name?”

All of a sudden, he goes around in a circle giving people names. He gives me the name “prophylactic”. Yea, no thanks. That’s no way to get a playa name. So, lets fast-forward to the real story.

There I was going on a bike ride with my camp and we stop to observe a very strange camp. I can’t remember what exactly it was, but cruising with all guys, we were bound to stop.

In front of us were 3 beautiful women with little clothing and fur covered underwear screaming something like,

“Come put fur on your panties”

or something strange like that. Then I look over and see a very attractive topless woman walking towards me.

She drills me with a bunch of questions asking about my heritage. Apparently she was attracted to asian men, and there weren’t a lot on the Playa. After some conversation, we say our goodbyes and part ways. Apparently she was a stripper at a very popular strip club in Las Vegas.

Afterwards, I was named ‘Magnet’ by my camp.

So now that I’ve properly introduced myself, this is the story of what it’s like to go to Burning Man for the first time. I can only really categorize it into two distinct times: daytime and nighttime. They are both widely different. So lets start with the daytime.

Daytime at Burning Man

You wake up at who knows what time. I personally didn’t have a watch on me, and it was nice to be entirely disconnected from time and the rest of the world. I’d imagine it was around 7-8am though.

You wake up because of the heat and sun. This is why it’s important to have a shade structure over your tent so that your tent doesn’t get all the heat and sun. I noticed that a lot of people had RVs in which they tend to sleep a lot more because, well, they can.

I actually rarely ate a big meal. I’d have a couple pieces of fruit as it was nice to get some liquid other than water into my system. The heat also made it so that I wasn’t as hungry or something. After quickly cleaning up and dumping water into a gray water evaporation bin, I sprayed myself with sunscreen and headed out for the day.

Oh yea, one thing to note is that they do have port-a-potties with toilet paper there. So not to worry if part of your morning routine is to well, do your business.

In the beginning I’d take out a bicycle and ride around and explore the different parts of the playa. After a couple days of it, I started walking around. I’d recommend doing both as they offer different experiences. Most people tend to bicycle and it makes sense if there is a certain place you want to get to; however, walking was nice because it forces you to stop more and make friends at camps. I found that more people called me into their camps for a drink if I was slowly walking by. It did suck if you found yourself in the deep playa without a bike. Hopefully you can find an art car passing by in which you can usually get them to stop and let you on.

Relaxing in the desert and enjoying the view.

Most of the days was spend biking or walking around and seeing all the various art structures. They can be found all over the place! I also found that I spent the days drinking as all the camps usually served mixed drinks with alcohol. It’s a great way to meet new people when you stop in for a drink.

Common Questions Asked When At A New Camp

How’s your burn going?
Is this your first time?
Do you have a playa name?

Walking around you’ll find the most random things. Everything from a random playground, bumper cars, ziplines, stuffed animal dissection, nude body washes, improv classes and more. There is a little bit of everything which makes it absolutely wonderful.

You can find out the days events in the book that is given to you upon arrival or by downloading the official burning map app.

What To Do During The Day

Ride an art car
Venture into the deep playa
See all the art structures
Drink at camps
Participate in events
Don’t sleep
Eat and drink lots of water

Burning Man at Night

I found that nighttime was mostly parties. A couple of the camps shutdown and go into happy hour mode by serving drinks and blasting music with flashing lights.

I’d definitely recommend taking a bicycle out at night instead of walking. Be sure to outfit your bicycle with el wire and other lights to make sure you’re seen in the dark.

What to bring to the Playa at night

Headlamp
Bicycle with el wire attached (glow sticks work, but are dead the next day. Creates a lot of trash (moop))
Bike lock (more important during nighttime when bicycles are a bit more likely to ‘walk off’)
Water
Warmer clothes

My nights were spent exploring all the sound camps and parties. One of my favorite camps to visit was called the ‘Thunder Dome’ by the wonderful people of Death Guild. It took on a Mad Max style fighting cage where people would climb on the top and cheer. It was very unique and memorable.

The best way I can describe the Playa at night is if you remember the movie Avatar where everything starts to glow. At night time, you look around and everywhere you look is just glowing lights from bicycles, camps and art cars. It was magical and was unlike anything i’ve ever seen.

Chapter 3: Decompression

Leaving burning man is bittersweet. It’s been a couple months now, and I still find myself looking through Burning Man photos and watching any Burning Man video I can get my hands on.

People often say that it’s a life-changing experience.
I’d have to agree.

At the start of 2012, I embarked on a very long journey. I travelled most of that year to places like Iceland, Greece and Argentina to name a few places. It was quite the memorable experience, but I don’t feel like I’d need to do it again. I’ve done it. Would I go back to certain countries? Sure!

Burning Man is an experience that I now wait with anticipation for. I can’t wait for next year when I get set foot on the playa and spend a week in a community that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s a time where people are giving without any expectation. It’s a place where people can freely express themselves however they want. It’s a place where somehow among 61,000 people, there isn’t a lick of trash anywhere. There isn’t police everywhere. People just care about the mission. It’s awesome. Leave no trace.

I remember walking into the temple for the first time not knowing what to expect. I saw people dancing around the middle altar. I saw people laying down and relaxing. Many people were writing on the walls and crying. It felt like a place where people are trying to let go of something that has happened in the past.

I remember sitting there wondering what I was doing there. I sat there, thinking about my past and if there was anything I want to let go of. There wasn’t. So I sat there, journal in hand and ready to write down any thoughts. Nothing.

I looked around at people with emotional baggage. It was touching. It wasn’t till a man brought out his guitar, and starting singing a wonderful song that reminded me of Bob Marley. It was a song about renewal and love. It was beautiful.

At this point, I’ll admit I shed a tear. The beauty that is humanity was very strong. It moved me.

The whole experience let me feeling like I needed to do more, to love more and to appreciate things more. I decided to create #ThankfulThursdays, a Facebook hashtag in which I’ll dedicate this day of the week to a certain people on Facebook that has influenced my life or inspires me in some way. It’s a way to show my appreciation and re-connect with certain individuals and let them know I’m appreciative of their friendship or appreciative of a moment in time we shared together.

It’s not much, but it’s a start.

So hopefully I’ve also done my part to spread the word of Burning Man. I’ve also compiled some other Burning Man ‘things’ that I felt needed to be shared. I hope to inspire you to participate next year!

People always ask me of my experience at Burning Man. I always try to ask them their thoughts on the subject before I share mine. Most people believe it to be a music festival that is full of bright lights, art sculptures, hippies, drugs and alcohol. Is there that stuff? Sure. But it’s so much more.

For me, Burning Man is a way to fuel your spontaneous soul. You see something in the distance? You go over and see it. There is a camp with fun activities? You go do it. You meet someone interesting? You say something.

If you were shy before, here you are not. You lose a sense of time, day and place. All you know is that you are here, and you’re curious. I constantly found myself biking without a destination. I just kept going wherever I wanted, knowing that I’d turn a corner and find something or someone that would peak my interest.

Unlike travel, Burning Man offers something unique each year. I know that if I visit Paris, I can see the Eiffel tower in all it’s glory. It will generally always be the same. I can’t say that will be the case with Burning Man. If you missed out, you’ll never see it in person…ever. It’s amazing!