Experience the best of Burning Man with an RV rental
The ultimate destination for free-spirited travelers, Burning Man has become an institution for anyone who embraces an alternative lifestyle – or who wants to give it a go. More than 50,000 people participate in the festival each year, and it is an active participation; Burning Man is not about being catered to or entertained by professionals but about taking part in the creativity. Here’s a little bit of insight into the enigmatic festival, and why we think a Burning Man RV rental is the way to go for aspiring attendees.
Principles of Burning Man
The festival is based on ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy. Through these, the Burning Man event has grown organically into its current incarnation as a week filled with incredible expressions of creativity through all channels and a community spirit of connection and helping each other out in the harsh conditions. Everything that festival goers will need, they bring with them – and use their resources to share and to create art and events for everybody to enjoy.
Surviving the festival with an RV rental
It’s difficult to put into words what Burning Man is (you’ll have to see, smell, hear, taste and otherwise experience it for yourself), but we can tell you some of the things it is not. It is not a summer camp with accommodation provided, nor even a music festival where you can expect rubbish bins, water taps and other infrastructure for crowds. It takes place in a dried-up lakebed (or playa) in Nevada’s desert. Scorching hot during the day, often very cold at night and occasionally subject to days of rain which turn everything to mud, the playa is a hostile environment and there are not handy facilities or conveniences to help you out. The inclusion of Radical Self-reliance as one of the festival’s 10 principles serves not only a spiritual but a practical purpose here, as you must rely fully on yourself, your preparation and what you bring with you to survive the week. It’s for this reason that motorhome rentals are so popular for Burning Man: they take care of the whole package from bed to bathroom to water tank, so you can focus on Radical Self-expression instead.
Burning Man dates and tickets
Burning Man 2015 takes place from the 30th of August to the 7th of September. Most tickets and vehicle passes for the 2015 festival have sold out, but another batch are set to become available in the OMG sale for which details can be found at tickets.burningman.org. There is also a secure ticket exchange program where excess/unused tickets are sold, so it’s definitely still possible to get one for this year’s event.
RV rental options
Booking an RV rental in the USA is easy, but for Burning Man you will need to get in very early to make sure the vehicle you want is available – with such a huge attendance, they sell out fast! It’s getting quite late in the game for RV rentals for Burning Man 2015, but there are still options out there if you are willing to show a little creativity. And if you aren’t, well, why are you going to Burning Man?
Cities where you can pick up a motorhome rental for Burning Man are limited only by the time you have for a pre- and post- festival road trip. Cities with major airports are of course the most popular, and those within a (long) day’s drive include Reno, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and San Francisco. The pickings in these three places will currently be quite slim, but you might find some of the smaller motorhomes still available.
Make a real road trip of it
Extend your driving time out a bit and your options broaden. Motorhome Republic can help you find available vehicles from a huge range of suppliers in cities all across the US, so it’s easy to plan a great road trip which will just add to the Burning Man experience.
An RV rental road trip from Los Angeles or San Diego could include Yosemite, Lake Tahoe or the Big Sur coastline – why not take five days to get there and see all three with a leisurely drive?
Phoenix is another great pick up point for your Burning Man RV rental. The drive will fit easily into two days, but a week would give you time to stop in at Vegas, see the Grand Canyon and slowly acclimate to the desert temperatures.
Denver is a centre for outdoor pursuits, great for those nature loving attendees. It’s a long trip to the playa, but one which will take you via the Rockies for some spectacular scenery, and through Salt Lake City too.
In the north, Portland is not too far away, with less than two day’s driving between the city and the Nevada desert. The laid-back, youthful and liberal city would be a great start to your Burning Man experience! Add just a few hours and you could pick up your RV in Seattle and visit the beautiful sights of the Pacific Northwest.
However you choose to get to Burning Man, be prepared for an adventure and embrace the principles which make this crazy, wonderful festival unique.
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