What a Difference a Day Makes: Oh the Bumpy Playa
Returning to Burning Man After a Decade Away
Coming back to Burning Man for the first time since 2011, I was ready to experience it through a different lens. A decade older, with more life and healing behind me, I saw the return as a chance to take inventory — to observe how I’ve changed and how a more mature me would navigate the existential crucible that the playa inevitably becomes. Having studied psychedelic therapy and worked deeply with the frame of “journey and integration,” I felt curious and excited to see how I’d meet the challenges this environment offers.
What a Difference a Day Makes: Oh, the Bumpy Playa
Monday, 6 PM
After a 30-hour odyssey, my friend and I finally arrived at camp. Our campmates were nowhere in sight — no doubt buried in the art project build. Without much discussion, we hopped on our bikes and raced toward the playa to join them.
The freedom of pedaling across the desert hit me like a rush — but it was short-lived. Within minutes, my body absorbed the full brutality of the playa’s bumps and ridges. Elation quickly gave way to expletives as I rattled over cobblestoned crust and sank into puffy drifts of silt. Did it used to be this bad? I wondered as I fought to keep my balance.
Wednesday, 7 AM
By morning, the storm had passed. The day before had brought hours of rain and lightning, leaving the playa in its notorious “snot mud” form — thick clay that sticks like cement, alternately building a ‘platform shoe’ or yanking footwear clean off.
And yet, stepping out into the early light, I found myself smiling. The ground, still bumpy but finally drying, felt almost merciful compared to yesterday’s sludge. It was a moment of perspective — how quickly “awful” shifts when you’ve seen something worse.
Unplugged from technology, I could watch these thoughts unfold like a live feed of my own consciousness. Gratitude bubbled up easily as I breathed in the crisp post-storm air and marveled at the beauty of the playa renewed.
These are the tiny joys and challenges that I love most about Burning Man. The discomforts that break you open, the small moments that ground you, and the reminder that even in the harshest conditions, awe and wonder can sneak in.