I went to Burning Man and it was even crazier than I expected
Business Insider/Aly Weisman
Burning Man 2016 officially started on Sunday.
Even as photos of this year's festival have started trickling onto social media, many are still baffled by what exactly goes on at the week-long event.
Three years ago, I went to Burning Man for the first time. Last year, I returned for round two.
While I had attended many different festivals previously, Burning Man was unlike anything I had ever seen.
Burning Man, as the website proclaims, is "an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada."
The festival is a choose your own adventure of early morning meditation, late nights lit up by neon and pulsating music, art installations, bicycle adventures, and much more.
The first year I attended in 2013, so did more than 61,000 other people. By the time I went back in 2015, attendance had grown to nearly 70,000 participants.
Here's what happens inside the wild world of Burning Man.
It all started with this: a cheap leopard suitcase I purchased on the streets of New York City. Everything you bring to Burning Man is at risk of getting seriously dirty or of disappearing. I felt OK sacrificing this.
Business Insider/Aly WeismanI packed it full with costumes, sunscreen, sunglasses, flashlights, food, and other items on the official checklist. Everything is in plastic bags to keep it clean from the impending desert dust.
Business Insider/Aly WeismanUpon arrival in Reno, Nevada, the closest airport, I hit a Walmart to grab last-minute necessities such as jugs of water. Walmart was clearly prepared for all of the "Burners" driving from Reno.
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