✨Greetings, Bad Ass Babes! ✨

Welcome to Part 2 of Ultimate Guide for Ladies (and Gentlemen) who love to party. Catch up on Part 1 here., and make sure you hop over to Part 3.

Whether you are a fresh faced first timer, or a crusty costumed Rave Pro, this Guide is for you if:

You tremble with anticipation when imagining the rush of making a whole crew of new, beautiful friends who have the same obscure musical artist set as their alarm clock tune;

You ache for the way the bass makes your shoulders shake . . .

You can imagine the magik of that special spark of attraction that starts a fire in your heart from the dance floor;

It's a special kind of glorious we revel in again and again because we feel the build up of that particular type of magik (spelled here without the C intentionally for the sake of differentiation).

For the serious Festie Lifer, that's a feeling worth any price.

Right?

But there is a flip side to every coin, no matter how shiny or coated in Body Glitter said coin maybe. And sometimes, the cost can be more than we'd bargained for, like the bottled water and "fresh fruit" smoothies in the food vendor field. . .

Maybe you know the feeling (and if you don't yet, trust me, you will):

That ache that starts behind your eyes and throbs in time with every drumbeat, like your brain meat is starting its own Indie Band;

The scratch at the back of your throat that seems to have absorbed your entire voice by Sunday morning;

The ringing in your ears that doesn't stop like it should when the music does;

The rising fear in your gut when you realize you don't know where the f&%# your Buddies are, and some guy in a rabbit mask keeps appearing around the corner, no matter which way you turn as if he's late for a very important date with you;

The stiffness in your neck when you wake up on the ground covered in dust. Or mud. Or something worse. For the third night in a row.

And then you realize the line for the showers is three hours long and rustling in whispers about “running out of water” . . .

Ouch.

Hi! I'm Stirling. I can often be found rocking out on top of speaker blocks and festival stages across many continents on any given day. I've learned a lot along the way. I LOVE to have a good time, just like a lot of good friends of mine. We've figured out how to make this our work AND it is an art we've been practicing for years.

Woven throughout the rainbow tapestry of many years of Epic Fun Time Adventures are the fraying, faded threads of uncomfortable moments, scary situations, and utterly stupid mistakes. Mistakes bad enough that we all hope no one else has to make them. Ever. Again.

That's why I've decided to mine the depths of the treasure trove of trial and error that we've all learned and earned from.

And I am here now to pass this hard won knowledge on to you, so the next generation of Festie Besties can be ferociously whatever they want to be while staying safe and healthy. Be sure to ✨ read Part 1. and Part 3.

3 More Festival Must Haves for Ladies (and Everyone Else):

No matter how electrified your trip into the main stage crowd may be, whether by L.E.D. or L.S.D., there is no doubt that these nights get DARK. Thus, we come to the first Must Have on today's list:

Head Lamp

Sure, the trails may be lit, and depending on the nature of what adventure you have undertaken, there may be three story tall Pirate Ship art cars chasing flame throwing Octopi illuminating the night sky all around you, but as soon as you enter that small plastic box where everyone lets their guts go, then, and only then, will you know True Darkness. . .

Just try to navigate the Port-O's with no light. Or a flashlight, the hand held kind. Which hand, exactly?

I dare you.

Then come back and grab yourself a head lamp. Not only will you be automatically counted among the ranks of Professional Partiers everywhere operating your Hands Free Technology, the gold-miner chic aesthetic offers up a way to sweep your crusted unwashed locks (formerly considered hair) in unquestioned style.

The concept of Hands Free operation, and this gorgeous image from Vibedration, brings us to our next essential item:

Hydration Pack

As we covered in the previous installment of this Guide, when we are intentionally challenging our very Human-ness by purposefully and repeatedly exposing ourselves to every direction of extremes including, but not limited to;

The raw natural elements of wind, sun, heat, cold, rain, et al;

Depriving ourselves of sleep and nutrition;

Intense physical exertion on the dance floor and the hikes between them;

All the other things that make us sweat;

Under-eating and over-doing;

As well as those potential extra-curricular substance activities that over-use the internal brain juices;

And all the other hyper glamorous activities that festival life entails. . .

We. Must. Stay. Hydrated.

I repeat.

DRINK MORE WATER.

This is another one of those constant decisions that makes the difference between The Having Fun-Times, Migraines, Barf Sessions, and Literal Death.

(seriously, Dehydration can = DEATH, look it up)

Since you've read ✨Part 1 ✨ of this series, you're all knowledgeable and prepared, look at you! You have your Pee Funnel in hand. How professional! Now you can most ease-fully and efficiently check the color of you pee.

Seriously. Every time. Pee clear. If there is any yellow there, YOU ARE DEHYDRATED.

DRINK. MORE. WATER.

Use the code #WATERISLIFE for a 10% discount

And since you're such the Pro, obviously you don't depend on the presence of drinking fountains (because who knows if the water at this camp site is even potable, or when it will run out? Not you.). Nor would you be caught lugging around a basic bottle by hand! Never.

You are among the Elite Expert Level Party Kids. You rock a Hydration Pack. It's inner bladder full of filtered water you brought with you to the site in bulk by the gallon, it's outer pockets stashing all the extra party favors you require.

You make sure this pack is full every time you return to camp. Knowing what you know from Part 1 you also dump in a stack of electrolyte tablets, so that you always have extra to offer your Buddy System comrades (because you ARE using the Buddy System, RRRRIIIGGHHHTTT????!?), and are carrying extra in case you stumble across a wayward Festie Goer whose Thought Computer seems to be more on The Brain Drain than up to processing speed.

((Strategies listed above/below are demonstrated here by Yours Truly and two of my favorite Human Specimens, at my very first Burning Man, and on the dance floor at Once Upon A Festival))

Electrolytes Save Lives. Water IS Life.

The Most Important Thing for your health if you want to last all weekend (and beyond, into Mon-daily Life) is to consume mega amounts of fresh water and electrolytes.

Now that you are hydrated and prepared to move onwards into the dark night without having to stumble blindly back towards camp, we must consider how best to dance the night away in comfort, yes?

Yes! And for this, we shall require:

Dust Mask

For those unfamiliar with such endeavors, it is not only in the arid desert festival surrounding that a Dust Mask will aid in your very survival. Yes, it certainly does all of that. But on a much more basic level, this item is essential for your survival at the very center of the Festival Experience: on the Dance Floor.

Please allow the Gremlin pictured here (Hi, me again! Photographed by the loverly Alyssa Keys) to demonstrate the sort of creature you will likely encounter on every dancefloor at any given hour of the day or night, stomping, tromping, roiling, and bouncing all around you. Kicking up clouds to make Lionel proud.

Unless you fancy harvesting stalactite boogers of dance floor particle out from the middle of your face for the next two weeks, while sustaining lung damage and risking nose bleeds, you must actively protect your personal air quality as demonstrated below:

Having a kick-ass amazing memory making time is important. And the best way to do that is by taking the necessary steps to stay safe, happy, healthy, and alive!

What are your Must-Have items and essential strategies for having the Best Time Ever? Let me know in the Comments below!

✨ All photos in this article are owned/ created by me, or made available to me as an Associate through Amazon and Vibedration. Some product links are affiliate links ✨

Thank you for tuning in for the second installment in this series! Read Part 1 here,
And continue with Part 3 here.

Follow and stay tuned for more additions, and if this has piqued your interest:

✨There certainly are more where this came from!

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And my take on the most memorable aspect of traveling through Africa, going through the photos a decade later

And another homemade meme ✨Color Challenge ✨ Sky Blue Friday ✨ A recipe to change the world 💥

If you'd like to explore some more of my content, I have a 5 part Series I'm just wrapping up on Cannabis Business Education

And a foray into my mystical conceptualization as a young child with this Supernatural Writing Contest Entry

<3

@Stirling