What is Burning Man?

 
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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, giant letters, people on top of giant letters, incredible burning man Dream structure, climbing structures at burning man, giant letters, dream art, couple on top of a dream, adventure couple

An absolute DREAM. One thing we learned after spending 5 days on the The Playa climbing giant letters, weathering gnarly dust storms, making friends with every kind of person possible and falling-in-love with neon bike decor, we realized that there is no one way to define, or experience, the “circus of the moon,” THE DREAM that is Burning Man.

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, giant letters, people on top of giant letters, incredible burning man Dream structure, climbing structures at burning man, giant letters, dream art, couple on top of a dream, adventure couple

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, giant letters, people on top of giant letters, incredible burning man Dream structure, climbing structures at burning man, giant letters, dream art, couple on top of a dream, adventure couple

Defined as “an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance,” what we understood it to be was an incredible place where people willfully take advantage of the opportunity to support each other in an effort to share the time of their lives amongst the dry, rugged chaos of The Playa which, before you know it, becomes Paradise. 

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man bikes, the playa burning man, tilt shift lens baby

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man bikes, the playa burning man

giant ok letters, burning man 2015, burning man 2015 art

giant ok letters, burning man 2015, burning man 2015 art

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, brainchild

There is no money exchanged on The Playa, and no talk of jobs or career either. In our modern reality, there is no way to understand the moment in time that is created in Black Rock City without actually becoming a part of it yourself.

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, temple of promise

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple,

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple,

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

Then there’s The Man:

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

In an effort to preserve the novelty of Burning Man for those of you lucky people who will one day go, I won’t say too much here, just be sure to return to the fire:

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man

…and bring breakfast:

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man, cooking on burning man fire

burning man 2015, the man, burning of the man, what is burning man, cooking on burning man fire

Back to The Playa. Dusty kisses, dusty PBJ’s, dusty hair, pajamas, water, air… we don’t know when it happened, but somehow we accepted and simultaneously became one with the dust.

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, giant letters, people on top of giant letters, incredible burning man Dream structure, climbing structures at burning man, giant letters, dream art, couple on top of a dream, adventure couple

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, giant letters, people on top of giant letters, incredible burning man Dream structure, climbing structures at burning man, giant letters, dream art, couple on top of a dream, adventure couple

eating on the playa, food to bring to burning man, dust storm eating burning man 2015

eating on the playa, food to bring to burning man, dust storm eating burning man 2015

playa dust, post burning man clothes, dusty burning man

playa dust, post burning man clothes, dusty burning man

Ultimately, we had no choice:

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, martini village burning man

We were able to put aside the temporary frustration of the dust once we became aware of the fact that the dust was the reason for this mystical, mysterious, wildly-unpredictable, beautifully-frosted place:

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man dust, the playa burning man, playa dust

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man dust, the playa burning man, playa dust

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man dust, the playa burning man, playa dust

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man dust, the playa burning man, playa dust

mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, beautiful burning man couple, burning man dust, the playa burning man, playa dust

biking on the playa, biking burning man, playa dust, black rock city

biking on the playa, biking burning man, playa dust, black rock city

For us, Burning Man was a chance to embrace a new-found freedom that our modern world has made seem completely unattainable.

burning man friends fun on the playa, burning man gif

burning man friends fun on the playa, burning man gif

cat car burning man, long balloon tail, colorful balloons, amazing balloons, balloons on the playa

cat car burning man, long balloon tail, colorful balloons, amazing balloons, balloons on the playa

shark and bunny on the playa burning man 2015

shark and bunny on the playa burning man 2015

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, you are exactly where you are meant to be

This freedom was so abundant and so readily available that it bubbled over onto everything we did. There was no sense of time, no structured sleeping pattern, no rules, no one to tell you “No” and as far as fashion, ANYTHING and NOTHING was the trend.

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, present moment, saying yet to right now, burning man bike decorations

charlie the unicorn burning man, unicorns burning man, girl unicorn burning man

charlie the unicorn burning man, unicorns burning man, girl unicorn burning man

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits,

Honestly, the more unique and creative people were with EVERYTHING the more fun it was for everyone!

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spaceship burning man, best burning man outfits

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fire octopus burning man, el pulpo, giant fire breathing octopus

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burning man bike, silver octopus bike burning man, awesome burning man costumes

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rhinoceros mutant vehicle burning man, mutant vehicle ideas burning man, amazing burning man animal car

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converse shoe mutant vehicle, best cars burning man, art car burning man, shoes burning man

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stilt walkers burning man, couple on stilts, the playa at sunset

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shark mutant vehicle burning man, mutant vehicle ideas burning man, amazing burning man animal car , jaws at burning man, jaws on the playa

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neon bikes burning man, burning man bike decorations, best burning man bikes

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boat car burning man, mutant vehicle burning man, burning man boat party

Something we quickly realized was that sunrise and sunset were the most magical times to be on The Playa. Everything transitions, everything glows… everything comes alive in it’s own incredible way.

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rhythm waves burning man 2015, rhythm waves video, burning man gif

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temple of promise night photography burning man 2015

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orange furry car burning man, mutant vehicle burning man 2015, light drawing burning man 2015

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

sunrise burning man, playa sunrise, black rock city sunrise

sunrise burning man, playa sunrise, black rock city sunrise

Our last night looked like this:

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

burning man neon night photography the playa

The morning of our last day looked like this:

20150906-IMG_7205

20150906-IMG_7205

20150906-IMG_7207

20150906-IMG_7207

mr and mrs adventure, sunrise burning man, playa sunrise, black rock city sunrise, burning man sunset

mr and mrs adventure, sunrise burning man, playa sunrise, black rock city sunrise, burning man sunset

20150906-IMG_7239

20150906-IMG_7239

In conclusion, Burning Man is whatever you dream it to be really, so why not make the reality of it the time of your life.

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giant live letters burning man, person on top of letters, burning man 2015

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burning man 2015, the playa, couple at burning man, cool photo of adventure couple at burning man

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mr and mrs adventure, what is burning man, couple at burning man, adventure couple, silver outfit burning man, best burning man outfits, spinning heart burning man

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dream letters burning man, tilt shift lens baby burning man 2015

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burning of the man, burning man, what is burning man

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giant angel wings, angel on earth, last angel on earth, angel on the playa, burning man angel

Be sure to check out our extremely helpful post: THE BEST Burning Man Guide EVER!