15 days to go

With just 15 days to go before I arrive on Playa again, I’ve been reflecting on the events that led me to create this mini theme camp in the first place.

And as I was reflecting, it suddenly hit me:

I’m building a mini theme camp!?

It was placement, and the thoughts about placement, that triggered my reflections on why I’m doing what I’m doing this year.

And to sum it up, here’s the distilled list:

1. I want to focus on gifting my own gift this year. This is probably the most important thing to me for this year’s burn. It’s why I decided not to join a camp, and it’s why I spent so much more money than I would have, if I joined a camp (close to $3,000 so far!).
2. I want to gift burners the Moroccan desert tent experience, similar to the one offered in the Sahara desert by the Berbers.
3. I want people to be able to spot my signage and the entrance to my living room from the road while they bike or walk.
4. I don’t want to be where there’s too much traffic; my goal is to attract the curious and curiouser (which is also the theme this year!).
5. I don’t want to risk not having guests at all, because the entire point is gifting the desert tent experience to burners.
6. It’s about quality, not quantity. I obviously can’t compete with food camps, but I can offer an intimate, high quality, curated experience to a lucky few.

I originally planned to just Open Camp and figure out placement for me and my two guests once I get on Playa.

When it hit me that I’m actually making a theme camp, I regretted not contacting placement to ask for guaranteed placement, sooner. By the time I emailed them, it was too late (and they politely sent instructions on how to apply next year). I didn’t really know what I was dealing with as I’ve never open camped before, but there’s always next year, so I’m not too miffed about this.

Freedom vs. Certainty

The advantage of knowing in advance where you will be during the burn, is the ability to let all of your friends know so they can come visit. I planned to publish my exact location on this site, as soon as I found out, but most people will be on their way to the playa at that point, and most of them will not bother to check the site.

On the other hand, the advantage of not deciding in advance means that you can find the perfect spot for your camp by simply driving around and spotting it with your eyes.

And this year there seems to be a ton of space due to the lower ticket sales. Many camps have shrunk, and many camps are skipping 2024 altogether.

The freedom to host

One of the reasons I an creating a living room space to host guests and give them my gifts. I want the freedom to host burners on my own terms, and on my own schedule.

Another reason is last minute FOMO friends. If they decide they want to be there last minute, they know they can crash my living room. This means they don’t need to bring a tent or a mattress. All they need is their sleeping bag, and I’m bringing a few extras as well.

And even if they do have their own setup, they can still decide to stay for a few hours or for the night!