It's that time of year again...
Updates with some personal touches.
We're quickly approaching the two months I become unavailable as I bounce off into the desert. At the end of July, I pack up my little blue car and drive straight into the wild west, not to emerge again until the cusp of fall is upon us.
Soon I hook up my 1962 DeCamp to a borrowed 3/4-ton diesel truck and haul it from a dirt road in Winnemuca, Nevada to a even harsher terrain - the Black Rock Desert - and make my temporary home with hundreds of my weirdest, fabulous, fascinating friends. We're there to build and deconstruct Black Rock City, the location of Burning Man. I've been helping to build this city in some official capacity since 2012, so you could call it a lifestyle, but I’ve always been a bit of a masochist. If you'd like to hear more about this chapter of my wild wanderlust life, you can listen to me excitedly chatter with Jessie Sage on When We're Not Hustling.
Spending the last seven years in the demimonde has allowed me the freedom to scamper off to one of my favorite places on earth with zero consequences. Before 2017, I was locked into a more corporate existence that never quite fit, unlike the impeccably-tailored-suit feeling of this life. Since then, I've had progressively longer and longer stints of time in the Black Rock Desert. If you'd like to make my time there even more enjoyable, I've added some necessary new gear to my wishlist that I'd massively appreciate. Some things are for my beloved beat up desert trailer.
As a brief side story, until last year I spent my 5-6 week tenure bouncing between others’ hard-sided housing for the days before precious electricity arrives and then my huge canvas bell tent, setting it up to be both cozy and palatial. I even managed to build in an AC unit. (Most people do not have any form of electricity, but when you work an insane amount you do get some solid perks like an electrical grid.) After a couple years of this setup and my shorter stays of 2-3 weeks in a Springbar for many years before that, I was burning out in a non-renewable way.
Moving spaces is incredibly difficult when you're carrying around everything you need for the 6 weeks you're there. I lived out of stacks of industrial totes, moving from place to place until I set up my own temporary home. Two and a half weeks later I had tear it all down and to go back to the tote life when the electrical grid got ripped out. The lack of permanence is a beautiful thing, but when working 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, it can become unsustainable. My trailer came into my life at just the right time, passed on to me from a Reno friend with many miles and an unbeatable price.
This year I finally have the time to make more significant changes to the interior to make it just right for me. Contributions towards that are felt very warmly and rewarded warmly as well. (Shamelessly dropping my wishlist again.)
For the foreseeable future, this time of the year will continue to be reserved for one of my greatest loves in life. This year my disappearance is slightly more extended due to a trip to Ibiza, which happens to be on Travel Daddy’s bucket list (and not not on mine) immediately upon my return. If you have something in mind for October, I highly recommend getting in touch soon. If you have your eyes on July, get in touch even sooner as my remaining time is getting snatched up.
Here is my remaining availability for July:
1-5 available in Chicago
6 taken
7 evening availablility only
8-9 taken
10-12 available in Chicago
13 taken
15-16 available in Oak Brook
17 available in Chicago
18 taken
19-21 available in Chicago
In October, you’ll find me almost exclusively at home in Chicago and available for Fly/Drive Me to You dates. My website has some updates regarding new rate structures you may want to check out, especially if you reside within 3 hours driving distance of Chicago. I can’t believe we’re already planning for fall, so we might as well make it a spectacular season. Get in touch with your ideas and I’ll eagerly await your proposition.
With love,
Ava
