You're living in an RV on the playa? Congratulations! This is the most comfortable way to enjoy Burning Man. Of course, it's also probably the most environmentally impactful, so fuck you. (I kid - I've stayed in RVs as much as I've stayed in tents out there.)

Pros of an  RV

• Large living space. Self-explanatory!
  
  
• Typically built-in appliances including fridge, freezer, microwave, and oven. They're all shitty versions of what you'd have in your real kitchen, but out there, they're pretty luxurious.
  
  
• A shower, with built-in drain and holding tank! Very nice since you don't have to build an evaporation pond. Don't expect it to be a luxurious shower either. Your RV won't be able to hold all that much used water in its tank, and getting your RV pumped during the week can be a hit or miss affair in my experience. 
  
  
• A private toilet! An excellent luxury, though when I've stayed in an RV we've also had the rule that #2 shall not be performed in the RV. #1 only.
  
  
• Air-conditioning. But, you do need to either bring a generator capable of of powering it, rent one, or plug into some kind of provided electrical grid in your camp (most camps don't have this).
  
  
• Typically your bed will be a mattress, which is nice.

RV Tips

• When an RV says it "sleeps 6" or "sleeps 8" it's only technically true. An RV can be roomy but is still smaller than you think, and packing a lot of people into one at Burning Man can be very uncomfortable. Often, some of those 'beds' require that the sitting area be transformed into a (usually very small) bed, with no privacy. I've stayed in an RV with two dude friends, with my wife and another friend, and just with my wife. I can tell you I vastly prefer the latter!
  
  
• They're gas guzzlers. Fill up in Gerlach if you can, or at least by Nixon as you head up. You want to arrive on the playa with as much gas in the tank as you can.
  
  
• If you're going to run the air conditioner and bring your own (hopefully quiet) generator, make sure it's powerful enough to start the aircon unit - starting the unit takes more power than running it does, and aircons typically advertise their power draw while running, not starting. Typically that's at least 3000 watts. The RV rental company will probably be able to rent you a generator, but it may be a crappy, very loud model that will annoy you and everyone around you. The key to a quiet generator is to get an inverter generator, like this one.

• It's possible to keep an RV somewhat clean. Always take off your shoes before going inside, and if you're covered with dust from a dust storm, clean up before going inside. Keep the door shut at all times, and do not leave the ceiling vents open unless you want to have a pile of dust in your RV after a storm.
  
  

Cons of an  RV

• Very pricey. Having one delivered to the playa is going to cost you a minimum of around $4,000 for the week. Renting a smaller one to drive up and back will be less, but still in the thousands, and you have to pay for gas (not insignificant in a vehicle that size).
  
  
• Getting it to your stuff or vice-versa  can be a challenge if you live in, say, the Mission in SF, or up a tiny winding street (like I do). The one time friends and I drove an RV to the playa (vs. having one delivered), we had to rent a cargo van to carry our stuff from our place to the RV itself.
  
  
• If you don't have one delivered, you have to drive it up there, and if you've never driven one before, it can be less than fun, especially in high winds.
  
  
• Cleaning an RV afterwards can be very difficult if not impossible to do well. You're definitely better off renting from a company that understands what their RV is getting into.
  
  
• Perhaps not oddly, I've found that packing up to leave from an RV takes much longer than from a tent. You can spread your stuff out more in an RV, which means it takes longer to repack when you leave.
  
  
• They feel a little soulless. Whether that matters to you is up to you! You might try decorating the inside of it like I did one year to combat that:

I leave it up to you to decide whether this is an improvement or not.

Where Can I Rent An RV?

There are a lot of places that will rent RVs, sometimes knowing you're going to BM and sometimes not. I'll leave it up to you to discover most of them, but consider that you're much better off renting from a company that knows where you're taking it, because if they care to look they will easily find evidence of where you've been. It's nearly impossible for you to get all the playa dust off, particularly in the engine compartment.

Note: If you plan to rent an RV in California or Nevada, you need to start looking early. Like February. They all sell out.

Comment Form is loading comments...