I have pages of notes and over 700 pictures to offer but understand not everyone might be that obsessed with my vacation 
. Therefore, here’s the quick and dirty:
Traveling with the members of camp “Bloody Maryland” I trekked for 15 days across 11 States and over 5400 miles to experience the 2006 Burning Man Festival who’s theme this year was “The Future: Fear and Hope”. The trip was an amazing barrage of fantastic new experiences and great camaraderie and will go down as one of my best vacations ever.
The road trips to and from the festival were half the fun. I got to see the gorgeous expanses of the mid-west, the enormous grandeur of the West, the alien strangeness of the Bonneville Salt Flats, and much more. Riding in and driving an RV were novel experiences that opened up a whole new mode of travel to me.
Burning Man itself exceeded all my expectations. It’s an explosion of art, sex, adventure, and revelry that can be approached in any number of ways. Its jumbled paths of hedonist, artistic, social, and even spiritual pursuits offer a profoundly unique experience for each person. For myself, it was an opportunity to explore and, in some limited fashion, document the excursion. I spent a lot of time going solo around the playa observing, writing notes, and taking pictures. I was perhaps more spectator than I should have been but it was important to me to be able to convey a sense of the place to Will and other friends who couldn’t make the trip.
A big BIG thanks to those who took me along. I’ve never spent so much time in such close quarters with a group and seen people get along so well. No drama, no arguments, just a great time for over two weeks. That facet of the trip amazes me more than anything else. Thanks guys!
Much more later…
Top Ten Favorite Things/Moments
- My Traveling Companions – A great group who were generous, inclusive, and psycho-drama free. A big thanks to all of them for the adventure — especially organizers Mindy, Eric and Ryan!
- Intelligent Design sculpture by Wizzard – This take on the classic evolution drawing invited burners to be the next step. Elegant, interactive, and poignant to the festival’s theme (the future), this was my favorite art piece at the festival.
- Dora’s Box – A series of three golden chests in the middle of nowhere — the largest with a door. Inside was a comfortable space with even more chests that burners could take or leave items. I spent a lot of time inside filling out postcards. – Dora’s Box
- Pylon on the Playa – This “Land of the Lost” inspired piece even had a functional crystal bed inside. Placing the crystals in different positions would trigger different sound clips from history. Another place I spent a long time visiting.
- Bonneville Salt Flats – Waking up on this bizarre and alien landscape was just plain weird and wonderful. The closest I’ll probably ever get to walking on the moon.
- Cowboy Sunset Serenade – Take a pot of chili, whisky, cowboy costumes and music, and lay them all out on a remote part of the playa at sunset and you have one hell of a good time. My favorite Bloody Maryland get together. Hell, lightsabers even showed up!
- Awaking to a Wells Electric Neon Sign – Ryan and I were sleeping in the back of the RV when it hit a large bump. We groggily rolled over and looked out the rear window to see a fantastic “Wells Electric” neon sign featuring lightning bolts slowly recede into the night. We looked at each other and went “ooh!” simultaneously. Just one of those magic moments.
- Wandering the Deep Playa – Even a devout agnostic like myself found the stark desert to have an almost mystical quality — especially when dotted with engaging and whimsical art installations.
- Talk to God Phone Booth – On my first night on the playa I came across a phone booth labeled “Talk to God”. I walked in, grabbed the handset and had a surpassingly engaging conversation with the “almighty”. When I told my friends back at camp how clever I thought the whole thing was they smiled and told me that there was an identical booth located on the other side of the festival. That one is labeled: “Talk As God”…
- The Burn Itself – An orgasmic convergence of all the light, color and energy I’d experienced all week into one incandescent, focused ritual: the burn of the man himself. Word and images can’t describe the Technicolor mania that was this event.
 Doras Box |
 Fitz Inside Doras Box |
 Playa Pylon |
 Telephone to God |
 Cowboy Sunset 1 |
 Cowboy Jedi |
Expected Q and A
Did you have a good time?
Absolutely. I think this may be the best vacation I’ve ever taken.
Did you have sex at Burning Man?
No. I didn’t have sex with anyone while at the Burning Man Festival.
Did you do any drugs?
Yes. Alcohol, caffeine, tobacco once, and sadly, many cold remedies.
Did you meet anyone famous?
I heard rumors of Beck, Moby, Trent Reznor, and even Stan Lee being in attendance but never saw any of these folks. However, there was someone rather famous in our group who was a fascinating fellow to talk with (no I won’t name him, so don’t ask).
Did you run around naked in public?
Yes, on several occasions.
Are there pictures of this?
Yes. I only took one set, but several other people I don’t know took pictures at various points. Where they might show up I can’t say…
Would you go again?
Absolutely. Next time with Will I hope. That being said, it’s not an excursion to be taken lightly. It’s probably an every other year trip at best.
Was there even a small attempt to kill you and bury your corpse in the desert?
Sigh. Yes, but the pack of ninja were no match for my years of Wu-Shu training — and if you believe that, I have this bridge for sale…