This web site will be about “burner travel”. No definition exists for what that means. Here is a short list of some of the things that I think it entails. If you think I’ve missed one then let me know in the comments. The bus photo above is from the party that exploded on Gate Road when Burning Man was closed due to weather in 2014.

1. Go to a burn

The photo above is Sol Diego; the San Diego entry into the Circle of Regional Effigies (CoRE) in 2013. It was a sandworm. How cool is that? Our Victoria CoRE was close by so we could watch both.

2. Shop for burner clothes especially in SF, LA, or Reno

In San Francisco the burners hang out in Haight-Ashbury. In Los Angeles you can go to Iguana to buy cool clothes. In Reno check out The Melting Pot World Emporium (our favourite store), and a block down Virginia there’s Junkee.

3. Dress up to go to an event and  rave all night  – then meet again and party some more

This is Demon Bunny at the March of a Billion Bunnies 2013.

4. Learn about science especially involving explosions or fire

This was a 2013 Silicon Village workshop on how to build a fire tornado.

 

5. Travel with other burners

Fårö is a tiny island north east of Gotland (Sweden’s biggest island) in the Baltic Sea. Fårö is known for its beaches and its ‘light’.

6. Travel to visit other burners especially if friends already

Sam and friend were co-creators of Sol Diego. Another lady wasn’t well enough to go to the desert but they brought her along in photo form. Friends at my camp did that once for a husband that started a new job and couldn’t come. One time I was approached by a girl with a stack of pre-addressed postcards. She asked me to pick one and then mail it to her friend back home.

7. Practice flow arts

Flow is a trance like state where you’re fully in the moment. Flow tools include staff, poi, snakes, fans, flags (as in the photo), hoops, sand swords. Poi are basically balls on the ends of a line. Flags are spun the same as poi but they’re easier to see in the daytime.

8. Light stuff on fire

Part of the send off Lamplighter ritual is about Black Rock City being a city of fire and light. I haven’t seen too many people juggling fire but in Sweden I got to capture this fine example.

9. See where art is made

Large workspaces in industrial areas are needed for very large art. These include American Steel and NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) in San Francisco/Oakland, The Generator in Reno, and Big Art Labs in Los Angeles.

10. See art or architecture especially that was on the Playa

The big guy above in the picture pre-dates my time on the Playa. In 2009 Raygun Gothic Rocket was there and then on The Embarcadero in San Francisco. Bliss Dance, by Marco Cochrane, was there in 2010 and then on Treasure Island in the Bay Area.

To see some of the Burning Man art that is now in the public see the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF).

These are some of the things that Burning Man is to me. The media may paint a picture of it as being wild and untamed which it is but there is a clarity of life’s meaning from it. The huge art is brought by groups of individuals not companies or governments. If you have a dream you can pursue it perhaps with the help of crowd sourcing like Kickstarter. You can state what you want to accomplish to the world and find people willing to (as the Nordic burners say) “co-create” with you. By seeing what other people have achieved you can set your own ambitions high and know that it’s possible to achieve them.