solo-festing

This past weekend, I had the joy and pleasure of venturing to my first camping-music festival ALONE. I've previously gone to concerts alone before, with plans to meet with friends there, but never a multi-day all engrossed festival experience hours away from home. I was incredibly fortunate to find myself camping near old friends (& their friends) from college. Having a huge (20+) close-knit group within reach and access to me certainly gave me the best of both worlds. I made a clear priority to experience as much of the festival alone as possible and here are a few of my biggest takeaways:

Pros:

• Freedom to Be Who You Want/Do What You Want: Un-restricted access to whomever/whatever activities magnetize you. Having formerly attended festivals with a significant other or close friends, there's always more of a negotiation or discussion of "what do we do" during "x" time. No such dialogue is necessary when you're alone. You simply free to be with the flow.
• Making Self Love & YOUR Experience the Priority: When experiencing an awesome event with a group or close loved ones, I have the tendency to be concerned if others are enjoying themselves. This leads to subconscious self-sacrificing thoughts and actions in turn to cater to the needs of others, which ultimately alters your own experience of the moment. When attending alone, you're encouraged to do what "feels good" for you. You have the right to act on your own accord without fear of judgment or disappointment from peers/partners for turning in before the night is over, or for staying wandering the campgrounds at 4am conversing with strangers. This also makes it so much easier to leave & get water/food/rest/restroom break/wander-around/converse with whomever for however long. You deepen your connection with yourself, build a stronger intuition, and as a result cultivate a deeper awareness of yourself and the world around you.
• The World is Your Dance Floor: Perhaps this is more exclusive to my experience, but I feel no shame dancing up on whomever, whenever, wherever. I do not worry about how others I am with perceive me or if my actions make them uncomfortable. I can maneuver around a tight crowd freely and easily being a short-smiley-and-polite girl, get to the very front, create new instant friendships and find myself in the center of giving and receiving abundantly.
• Peace of Mind/Self-Empowerment: Ultimately, you realize peace is always with you and within you. I am not worried about losing/finding my friends, being alone, or being unprepared. I trust myself and relish in standing in the center of my own reality. This was a profound experience as I realized I single-handedly was shaping my moment-to-moment experience and perception of the festival. If I was having a blast and feeling energized- it was all me, if I was feeling "bored" or turned off talking to a certain group of people, I was completely free to get up, smile & hop-off elsewhere. I learned to step over on the CAUSE side of the equation of happiness instead of being a by-product of the EFFECT side (making excuses for my discontent and taking no responsibility).

Cons:

• Packing/Un-packing Alone: If there is a significant hike between the parking lot and camping grounds, be prepared to make ALL the trips solo. Being an over-prepared and over-packed festival-goer, I did myself a massive disservice upon realizing this year the campgrounds were about 1 mi. away from the parking lot. This led to an unforeseen tough-mudder rehearsal as I trekked 4 times back and forth alone on the hilly, dusty, and rocky terrain, completing the 5 hours of hard physical labor from the time of parking to setting up camp. Lesson learned for next time: pack light, pack only what you NEED, and don't bring 3 coolers... Thankfully at the end of the festival, I managed to convince an employee with a service cart to transport myself and my belongings to the front-gate in 1-go, saving me atleast 3 hours of my life and energy. ~Hare Krishna
• Holding Yourself Accountable: With no one traveling with you, you are solely responsible for how your plans shape up. Admittedly, I would've taken it much easier on my body during the daytime, if I had a friendly reminder that my favorite musical acts were not performing until 12 hours from the time I began my ...celebratory festivities. I would've put my gallon jug of pre-made green smoothies to better use, rather than indulging in nutella when the munchies rolled around. Lesson learned.
• Creating Space:It was by far much easier to take up/hold the space for ample dancing and moving with a large experienced group than it is alone. If your mission is to stake out a premium spot by the main-stage for a series of musical sets, you'll have much better luck with a group than doing so alone. On the night of Lettuce, Griz, & Bassnectar on the main-stage, I was fortunate enough to find my camping neighbors and be absorbed into their blob. They had 2 moon-mats, various blankets and tapestries generously laid out, a pile of everyone's backpacks/jackets/shoes in the middle, and there was vested interest of all group members to hold the space to protect all the mutual belongings. There's more than enough water, gum, love, attention, warm energy, and hands to give you back rubs within your direct vicinity. This also makes for an epic welcome back group chant of your name when you easily slide your way back to "the group blob" after leaving for restroom, food, drinks, etc.
  

conclusion:

I would highly recommend a solo-festing experience to anyone daring enough to level-up their traveling experience and relationship with yourself. I often relate being at music festival to being immersed in an alternate anarchist reality. No true constructs of society "as we know it daily" are pronounced, and you are exposed to so much new dynamic energy and so many like-minded individuals. Energy exchanges are focused around bartering, service, art, and connection rather than driven by a capitalistic, you vs. me shroud over the subconscious. Everything you witness and experience is a direct result of the intentions and actions of the collective. You see the best nature of people arise as the call for community and desire to create a tremendous harmonious experience for everyone resonates deeply with most every attendee. My heart and soul feel so vibrant and full of love after being in this type of environment for several days. Strangers become neighbors, neighbors become friends, and friends become mirrors reflecting back your own spirit, the one universal spirit. The feelings of one love and one-ness are well within grasp around every corner and with every interaction. I've learned it takes responsibility, clear intentions, and a balanced heart to make the most of this experience. Yet again, the same can be said about every novel experience. Happy fest'ing y'all.

In Love & Light,
Tong-Tong