Burning Man Tips for East Coast Newbies

Harry and I went to Burning Man for the first time this year. We were coming from the East Coast, with no car. We learned a lot about how to plan out the logistics. Here’s some things we wish we’d known way earlier in our planning process.

1. How To Get Water

If you’re coming from the East Coast, unless you’re driving there, bringing enough water is incredibly hard. Your best bet is to find a camp that will supply you with water. As a last resort, they do sell ice at Burning Man, which you can melt into water, but the lines are usually very long, and the ice is expensive.

2. How to Get There

The Burner Express will take you straight there. There’s two Burner Expresses, one shuttling from San Francisco and the other shuttling from Reno. Go through Reno. The Reno Burner Express will make a stop at a store from which you can get last minute supplies.

3. How to Get Your Bike There

The cheapest option is actually to get a bike near Reno (or I believe when the Burner Express stops for shopping). If you must bring a bike from home, there’s usually a container service (run by volunteers) in your city that will ship it to Burning Man. To ship the bike, pack it in a bike box. You can get bike box from a bike store. Shipping it back is tougher cause the box might get damaged on the way there. Bring extra supplies.

4. How to Join a Camp

Contact your friends and friend of friends. Go to a local Burning Man meetup if there is one. Find some kind soul who will make the right kind of introduction to let you join a camp. A lot of camps are about connections. Some aren’t. It’s still good to make friends thought.

5. Coming Back

If you want to stay at a hotel in Reno for a night before flying book, book way in advance. They will be completely sold out come Burning Man time.