This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life; I can’t believe I have waited this long to attend a weekend-long music festival. I wish I could go back this weekend but I guess I can settle for next year, even though I would prefer attending another one before the summer ends.
Camping was amazing, we met old friends and made new, enjoyed festie food and vendors, the venue decor and of course the ridiculous line-ups Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Although the experience is one that is difficult to explain due to its AMAZINGNESS, there are a few things I will do differently next time.
- WAGON. You need to bring a wagon to a festival you will be camping at. Seriously – if you want a camp worth hanging at for three days you will have a lot of crap and carrying it the few miles from the car to the entrance to your site (and back) will be a pain in the ass. Throwing all of our necessities into a wagon and pulling it would have been way more convenient than trekking it across dirt roads, grass, and other uneven terrain. Make sure you bring a wagon with durable wheels! You won’t regret it.
HYDRATION PACK. My boyfriend brought his along and acted as my pack mule/servant whenever I needed to bring some items into the venue or needed water but I felt bad relying on him to carry my wallet, extra clothes, water and whatever else I needed. Vibedration packs were being sold at the venue and many festie goers had them! They sell them in multiple sizes and really sweet patterns for an affordable price. I will certainly be purchasing one before my next festival! This one was my favorite.- A COT. We’re campers/backpackers and usually sleep in a hammock but at this particular festival, that was not quite an option. So we brought our tent and our friends shared their air mattress with us (which was super comfortable) but didn’t quite provide ample room in our tent for any organization. If you’re anything like me, you cannot function without a certain amount of organization. Our thoughts on this are the following: One, we had blades of grass poking through our ground tarp and tent bottom which would have easily deflate and ruin our mattress! A cot would solve that problem. Two, we would be able to put things under the cot like our large bags and/or food when we leave camp since we lock our tent for added security. Three, since you would be off the ground it might be significantly warmer to sleep since you won’t be absorbing any of the grounds frigidness.
- CAMP STOVE. We were not allowed to bring in any propane, white gas stove or grill. This made our food options and making food INCREDIBLY tough. As I’m sure you’re all aware, festie food is fairly expensive so I would have preferred to make all of my food and actually have not been hungry for most of the weekend. Bringing $4.00 Mountain Houses or mac and cheese/ramen would have been significantly cheaper, easier and would have left us way more full. What we did bring to eat if you’re in need of any ideas which don’t require cooking is hard-boiled eggs, trail mix, chips, applesauce, peanut butter, jelly, bread, Texas caviar (bean, corn, and veggie dip), single serving veggie platters and cookies.
- EXTRA TARP. We brought a ground tarp to put under our tent and tapestries to hang from our e-z up for identification and festie swag, however, with the wind we experienced we wish we would have brought an additional tarp. It would have been nice if this tarp was a little larger then our ground tarp to zip tie around our e-z up to prevent the wind from chilling us to the bone. This also would help in rainy situations to prevent rain from making its way into your sitting and/or sleeping area.
SOLAR LIGHTS. A few different campsites were lined with solar lamps that were staked into the ground and others that hung from their e-z up tents. I think this would be really nice for post festie hang-outs, and identifying your site in the dark (either after returning from the venue or the bathroom). They certainly added a touch of luxury while still being useful.- CHARGING DEVICE. I brought along a solar charger for my phone that wound up not working. I didn’t plan on being on it much, possibly for pictures and/or locating friends; I spent a whopping 30 minutes on it to figure out where friends were located, let my parents know I survived each night and to take a few pictures over the course of two days. My battery was at 20% by Sunday morning so I left it off for the drive home. Needless to say, I didn’t find my friends and I didn’t acquire many photos of the weekend. I also managed to make it home after my phone died halfway through our drive, but next time I might not be so lucky. Make sure you bring a charging device that will actually work! A festival is not the place for you to spend all of your time on the phone but I can promise you there will be certain moments when you wished it was functional.
We wound up being 8 people with this sweet set-up. The seating area between the two tents proved useful each day as we jammed, met new people, ate together or just chilled. The e-z ups kept the sun from beating on us all day and kept the slight rain off our tents. We had an absolutely amazing time at MysterylandUSA in Woodstock and we hope to return! I will definitely be posting more on the festival in time.
Peace and Love
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