Wow, just wow.

Besides being crazy expensive.... how's this much different than renting an RV in Reno, go shopping and then driving it the 100 miles to BM and parking it yourself? For tha price you could buy a used RV and sell it after the event.

It's basic capitalism. It assumes that there will be people who are rich who want to go to BM and are willing to pay a lot to avoid any rough edges on the experience. For an additional fee I'm sure that someone would be willing to provide food, costumes, and sex.

And think of how well it all goes with the theme!

just thinking about what kind of Rv you could BUY for 11 g's. but then you'd have to store it somewhere, i guess.

go ahead and fleece the sheeple, i say!!!

Value of party and fun that happens en route to BRC* : Priceless

So, if you deduct $10,000 for not taking advantage of the delivery service, I think it sounds like a pretty good deal.

*Includes, in addition to camaradarie, anticipation, and the experience of FINALLY rolling up on the playa: last-minute route reversal to pick up just-remembered important stuff and people (ohhhh!!! we CAN'T go to the playa without the inflatable dolls!); 25 stops at various liquor stores, roadside stands, fabric stores, WalMart (booo!!), pee breaks, breakfast; one of the following- flat tire, road drive-off, shit flying off the top, etc., all of which make you a "real" burner (i.e., good judgement is borne of experience, but experience is borne of bad judgement)

So most of our 'Radical Self Reliance' starts a couple weeks before the burn, lasts most of the week of the burn (excepting those couple of violent melt downs in the porta potty where you sob and pray to the FSM to transport you the fuck out of hell) and continues - maybe - until we get back to our shitty little houses and revel in the joys of hot running water and flush toilets.

Someone who has the means to rent this fucker for the week planned WAY ahead of that and has been radically self reliant possibly since before they were born: i.e. they chose their parents well! I mean they must have a good income, or be very thrifty savers or wily investors or well born to be able to drop 11+ grand for a week in the desert. Even split four ways they are still doing pretty well. Who knows what obstacles they have overcome to accumulate this chunk of change? Pehaps they are tougher, smarter, younger, and better looking than you - they are almost certainly wealthier.

Is it more worthy to spend the year leading up to Burning Man hand knitting your playa outfits and building your art car out of ground scores than skimming 10% off the top of an aid fund to Darfur and then transfering the fruit of your mental efforts to others to do the physical labor? What if they got rich creating art? Would that make it okay? Is it better if they own the RV and hardly use it all year than rent it just for the week? Driving it there makes it all okay? Personally, I think you should spend the whole week in a tent without ice or a shower to get the full effects of the burn, but I'm not going to impose that on the rest of you.

*goes to look at the other thread featuring a Winnebago for sale for $2800*

Yyyyyyyyep.

Well at least to me there is no difference in this than actually selling a hotel room on the playa. The only difference is the room has wheels. Normally a person would rent the RV, go drive around Reno and get what they need. Once that is done they head to the Playa. I really have no issue with that. It requires some effort, some self reliance and some real planning.
In this case they dont have to do anything other than show up, not even buy thier food.

What they are doing is turning Burning Man into a tourist destination where they are sold a room and an experience, no participation required. I view it no different than selling a room at Disneyland.

Sad part is these companies are creating a market where they exploit the creativity of others for their own profit and their customers enjoyment. Basicaly the Artists, theme camps and villages are required to pull money out of our own pockets to entertain El monte RV's guests.

What we create is being bought and sold at our own expense. Like it or not El Monte now sells what you create as an all inclusive package deal for tourists.

You don't even have to leave the RV. They'll just bring you photographs of all the art so you don't even have to get dusty. What a deal! We should all pitch in and rent it just to leave it empty... This is for the Anti-Burning Man.

Just because you pay for someone to setup your lodgings, doesn't mean you're not going to participate.

I believe some serious large scale art groups, DJs, etc, might prefer to have food and lodging taken care by someone who WILL do it, and not have that stress (or time from the MAIN things they bring) by a loser who ends up not doing their part of setting up a camp!

Is $11k reasonable?

Well... it's more than I could afford, but my point is, being rich doesn't mean you're not participating.
But I can see it might encourage more spectator yahoo/frat boys to show up.

Shades of gray. There are probably hundreds of people at BM who pay money to a theme camp so all they have to do is fly into Reno with their two bags of stuff... a campmate picks them up at the airport .... the theme camp provides the tent, bikes, water, food, etc. etc.



Agree this at least has some community aspect to it... but if people have money to burn, let them burn it so long as they leave no trace.

I don't like El Monte RV I think we should all boycott them. I don't think you need an RV on the Playa unless you're old and decrepit.

If you ARE old and decrepit, I'll rent you an RV for the week, set it up and fill it full of food for a measly eight grand! A real bargain folks, any takers?

;+}

I started hearing about this service a few years ago although this is the first time I've ever seen a price attached to it and yeah, my initial reaction was "That's fucking outrageous. Don't these people get it?" But after having thought about it for awhile and as someone else here pointed out, most likely anyone deciding to do this will divide the cost between four or five people. Looking at it that way, it's not that far away from what I spend each year to go to the playa, especially before I bought a camper and still rented one for a couple of weeks.

One of the reasons I'm not going this year isn't so much the cost in money of going, but the cost in time. Since I'm self employed, the amount of time it takes me to prepare beforehand and recover afterwards is a significant amount of time away from actually earning a living and I just can't afford to lose that time anymore. But, as someone who's self employed at least I have that choice. Those who work for someone else may not be able to devote the time to get ready and recover like I'm able to do. It does seem a little self indulgent and counter to the "radical self reliance" mantra but rather than assume the worse about anyone who may take advantage of this service, I'd rather get to know them personally first and then decide it they "get it" or not.

I still believe personally that Burning Man is ultimately about radical hedonism and I have no problem with peeps who enjoy themselves harmlessly and live in comfort harmlessly while on the playa. I doesn't hurt if they give something too in the way of art or performance volunteering or whatever. Shouldn't that be the ultimate consideration about whether they get it, not about how they get there and what they live in when they're there?

God bless us, every one!

Leftover treats, the original post for the RV rental setup for $11k was part of this set package of business created up by the mind that only a burner has.

For Immediate Release - April 1, 2008

Playa Companion - Burner Love - For a Price

www.playacompanion.com

BRC Transpo - Getting Your Gear to the Playa Safely

www.brctranspo.com

BRC Condos - Stylish Playa Living

www.brccondos.com

Trash Fence Dining - Playa Dining in Style

www.trashfencedining.com

Playa Defense Fund - Providing Financial & Legal Assistance For
Burners...By Burners

www.playadefensefund.com

MOPPBEGONE - Never Take Trash Home Again

www.moopbegone.com


still reading? Look at the date of the release...

sometimes you have money and sometimes you have time but seldom do you have both. At least that's my story. I don't have $10K sort of money but I've thrown lots of Benjamins at BM conveniences becuase I just didn't have time to build, sew, weld, create my own stuff.

Ya think maybe they're marketing to people like Sting and Heather Graham?