100 Things I Learned at Burning Man...

1. Photos will happen when you look your worst, are wearing the ugliest thing you brought, or have no make up on.
2. Getting lost leads to art car adventures.
3. Sunscreen for infants is full spectrum and when applied at least twice a day results in no sunburn.
4. Those that like you will ask to borrow your mirror, those that don’t will invade your tent and just “borrow” it.
5. Cutting nails as short as possible before going is a good idea, if you don’t, they will just rip off anyway.
6. Always ask a person’s camp name, it will last longer in the memory than a personal name, and then you can find them again later.
7. Texture wax is not a good idea to apply on the playa, it needs to be done before the trip out.
8. Texture wax when mixed with playa dust becomes uni-dread.
9. You’ll never wear as many clothes as you pack, but you’ll always wish for more panties no matter how many you take.
10. The same thing goes for socks.
11. If you have the killer coat, it won’t be cold enough to wear it as often as you like.
12. Lemon juice is the savior of playa foot.
13. Temporary tanning eye shields work great to tint clear goggles for the sun.
14. Picking up moop while wearing gloves is actually fun.
15. Being a shadow dancer is fun, but harder than it looks.
16. Jumping on a big trampoline is fun, but easier than it looks.
17. Big teeter-totters are kinda scary.
18. Reversible playa coats are the way to go, they look better, keep you warmer and take up less space.
19. Goggles with rubber edges will make you sweat around the eyes and leave ring around your cheeks.
20. Dried fruit and beef jerky really are all you need to survive a week out in the desert, but you’ll miss other foods terribly.
21. Bright colors in the daytime look best against the desert dust.
22. White is great for night, the better to have fun with all of the black lights.
23. Minmai buns are the way to go for long hair that is not braided.
24. Facial cleansing cloths are better than wipes in that they have a great lather and can be re-wetted enough to scrub an entire body well.
25. Wet wipes work great to remove the soap from facial cleansing cloths.
26. Wet wipes work even better when lemon juice is poured onto them and then applied to hands and feet.
27. No matter how light you pack, there will still be food not eaten, water jugs not opened, and clothes not worn.
28. There is never enough time to do, try, see, experience everything.
29. Some people want to tell you everything, others really are escaping for the week.
30. Moop happens no matter how hard you try to avoid it.
31. It is more fun to set up than to tear down.
32. The one photo that you think you look your worst in will be the one with the most memories attached to it.
33. The vibe at the beginning of the week is very different than at the end of it.
34. If you see something cool that you want to do, do it right then, once the moment passes, it will be hard to return.
35. “Embrace the dust” really has a meaning. It gets into everything and is utterly unavoidable.
36. Be careful when taking unmarked drinks from others.
37. Emergen-c is a real lifesaver when mixed with airborne, thera-flu and gator-aide.
38. And it is perfect for the morning-after-whatever revival concoction.
39. Time flies faster than you think.
40. Sunset lasts longer than it does at home.
41. Playa time really does exist, its just that no one can tell when it is, ever.
42. Projects left to be done on the playa take longer than allotted, no matter how simple.
43. Friends can be found anywhere, especially where least expected.
44. Conversation with strangers has never been so easy and continuous.
45. Connecting with people you met on the playa is harder than imagined.
46. Band-aide blister blocks melts in the heat and does not works nearly as well as just using fabric band-aides beforehand anyway.
47. The carcass wash is an experience that must be tried. It looses something in the explanation.
48. What happens on the playa everyone knows about in 0.26 seconds, but they are as likely to forget about it just as fast.
49. Those that stay in motor homes and rvs may have air conditioning, bathrooms, bathing and real beds, but they miss out on the bonding of the camp.
50. It’s good to have friends in motor homes and rvs that share the cool air and a drink in the middle of the afternoon.
51. Dust hurts if it is hitting you at 60 mph.
52. Double rainbows are worth whiteouts and rain.
53. Walking from one end of the Playa to the other takes longer than you’d expect.
54. There will never be enough photos.
55. Going without your camera is fun.
56. Bring a back up pair of boots, just in case.
57. Double bag your “going home” clothes to keep them clean and dry.
58. Drink water. Then drink some more.
59. Powdered drink mixes added to water help to restore electrolytes and make the water taste better and less boring.
60. Make a batch of drink mix concentrate and add to the bottles, pouring powdered mixes on the playa can be messy and moopy.
61. If you think something might melt, it probably will.
62. The less you have to put in a cooler, the fewer trips for ice you need to make and the less grey water you have to worry about.
63. Wear darker lipstick than you would at home, the dust turns everything to shades of playa and you end up looking like Uncle Henry and Aunty Em…
64. I am totally the one to be placed in charge of breakfasts and morning-after all-nighter fix-em-up concoctions.
65. Getting up with the sun is inevitable. Embracing it as the morning person I am is just plain fun.
66. A dust mask is vital. Really.
67. Being a morning person can be very useful.
68. Nighttime is a good time to practice riding a bike in the secret confines of the camp. Everyone is out partying or too drunk to remember that you made a fool of yourself falling over the side of the bike.
69. Always bring toilet paper to the porta-potties with you, the one time you forget, there will not be any left and air drying sucks.
70. Toilet paper can be folded up into little squares and tucked under the back of a bra strap.
71. No matter how well prepared you are sometimes you just get caught with your pants down.
72. Other times you get caught bathing, sleeping in public, dancing like a fool, doing something totally silly, or wolfing down dinner on your way out of camp.
73. If everyone cleans up after themselves and picks up the things others may have "accidentally" left behind then the world would be in much better shape.
74. Picking up MOOP can be habit forming and lasts long after you leave the Playa.
75. When you take someone out of their general context you sometimes end up with a different person.
76. Sometimes you end up liking the different person more, sometimes less. Sometimes, it is just better to be with strangers because you won’t know the difference between their Playa personality and their At-home personality.
77. “The Playa is a microcosm of life in general. On the Playa you will see a little bit of everything and people from all over the world. The best thing is that everyone is getting along with little difficulty. Even the usual BS you would expect when you but 40k plus people together seems to either not happen or to resolve itself without incident.”
78. Waiting out a white-out is much more fun with friends.
79. Participation is fabulous, but sometimes it is a good thing to sit on your hands.
80. “Good karma happens. I was amazed just how often I would need a cold drink and one would appear or how often I would be thinking about shade and someone would invite me to have a cold one with them under their sunshade. Heck when I was hungry someone always offered me food and good food at that.”
81. Creativity may limitless, but I swear that there must be at least 5,000 ways to re-invent the wheel.
82. “Sometimes you just have to roll with it. I was caught up in some situations that at first even made me a little uncomfortable but when I just relaxed I realized that it was all good and had a good time living outside of my box.”
83. “I thought the noise at night would be louder, more ubiquitous, and more annoying to me.”
84. Camping in the center has it’s advantages. You are closer to the ice and coffee and further from the all night music makers.
85. Having a Karaoke bar across the street can be fun and entertaining.
86. Bringing all the pretty costumes is a wonderful thing, but sometimes the dust storms happen and you pull out the worst looking thing you own just to be covered quickly and hope you don’t ruin the “good” stuff.
87. I swallowed the whole fish. (a saying among American Zen Practitioners.)
88. “I hoped I'd like it less so I wouldn't feel so bummed if I can't make it next year.”
89. Expect the unexpected.
90. It all ends too soon, but somehow seems to last forever.
91. It was worth everything to get there, just for the experience, even if you never go again.
92. DECOMs, PreCOMs, Regionals, and other “Burner” events are great, but Burning Man is its own animal.
93. No matter how many time you go, or how much research you do, you’ll never be able to adequately explain it to someone that has never gone.
94. No matter the community, with 50,000 people in attendance, you are going to come across a little bit of everything.
95. If you say that “this is my last burn”, chances are, you’ll be back. Again and again.
96. Astral Head-wash is heaven sent.
97. A smile can fix anything on the Playa. Seriously. Try it and see.
98. Some people are born Burners, other people become them.
99. Even if it doesn’t “feel like coming home”, it’s still a great place to be.
100. I want to go back. (I know, big surprise.)