Nun burns Man!

The best way to summarize my experience is this conversation that happened during a wee-hour bike ride on Wednesday:

butterflake: So what do you want out of Burning Man?
Me: An epiphany, I guess.
butterflake: If you're looking for one, that'll make it harder to find.
Me: You're probably right.

She was right. I didn't have any epiphanies that I can recall, but this was one intense, trying, and educational trip. I want to go again, even if time and money are unlikely to work out next year, just so I can go there without making the mistakes I made this time. Yeah, so I can make a batch of new ones. My carpool buddies & I spent the whole trip home coming up with ideas for next time.

( The whole megillah, 1915 words. Written on the playa except where clarification was needed. )

Lessons learned:

1. Go with who you know or at least stay in touch with them. Many of the best times I had were with people I know well at home, which unfortunately didn't include the Space Virgins.
   
2. Pick the camping situation that's right for you. Big theme camps can offer amenities and do cool stuff, but they demand a lot of work and sometimes cash in return. Burners seem to do lots of stuff at the last minute, too, which poses a problem for anyone with inflexible committments.
   
3. Take care of yourself. I wasted a lot of time being needlessly hot in corsets in the daytime. Others do so by not hydrating enough or (ahem) overindulging.
   
4. Vets are often the only source of info about what's worth going to.
   
5. Talk to strangers.
   
6. Try new things.