Coachella: The Disaster of Getting There

Intro


I did week 2 of Coachella 2019.
It was my first time ever going.
Check out a more detailed post here.
I took my friend, Sara, with me.
We did tent camping.
This post is about getting there
and our experience with tent camping.

The missed flight


The whole trip was supposed to go like this:
Leave Austin, Texas on Wednesday night.
Take a night bus to Indio, CA.
Get set up first thing Thursday morning.

But then, I got sick.
My symptoms started in Costa Rica.
The doctor suggested it was was one thing,
and gave me some serious antibiotics for a week.
Serious antibiotics.
My last day taking them was
Wednesday.
(If your curious, they didn't work
and I'm still seeing the doctor about it.)

Anyway, Wednesday was out.
But I was able to re-book our flight for Thursday.
Two planes.
Our first plane left Sara in a bad state.
She's flown to LA before,
but maybe nerves got the better of her.
She got motion sickness.
She pressed on to the second flight.
Which means by the time we made it to L.A.
she was a wreck.
Also, we missed the bus.

Los Angeles to Indio, California

This was the only selfie we took together at Coachella. #selfiequeens maybe not.

I made the executive decision to get a hotel in L.A.
It was a lovely, albeit expensive, hotel.
She rested up.
I went out and found some overly priced
vegan food.
I'm not vegan, but I am lactose intolerant.
Vegan just makes it easy when I travel.

The next day, we ended up finding a ride there.
80$ each.
Carpoolworld.com to the rescue!!
If you use this, please do so with great caution.
We found someone who drove for Lyft.
It was a win/win for us.
Bus would've been so much cheaper.
But we also had a lot of luggage.

From what I saw, we 3 options:
Option 1:
Bus from Airport to Coachella, which you buy at Coachella website
but we missed that and it was full the day we came in
(we did get it from campsite to Coachella,
which was very nice and worth it to us!!)
75$ each
Option 2:
greyhound bus
downtown to Indio
which would have required some Uber or Lyft rides
but the bus itself was about $20-$30 each
direct
but the luggage capacity was a potential problem
Option 3:
Carpooling.
There are many sites for these
and every driver has a different price
and maybe you can get lucky
and find a free ride or just gas money
for people already going.

Camping and Packing

What all did we pack?
I had a backpack for most of my things.
She had a suitcase.
We had a cooler that held our sleeping bags
and some of the random tent things.
And we had a tent.
No sleeping pad.
She convinced me out of it Wednesday.
So that was 4 bags total.
She also carried a drawstring bag
and I had a fanny pack
(which I got from Costa Rica!)

Though the driver kept asking if we were sure
we wanted to be dropped off at the uber lane,
we didn't know where, exactly, we were supposed to go.
We thought we knew.
I even had the email explaining it.
We took out the Coachella map, which showed it.
But after the trip,
we're pretty sure
he could've dropped us off much closer.

Then, came getting in.
After hiking to the point of dehydration to our destination,
and the check-in people took my mallet
(it was rubber, which was supposed to be allowed
and there were others who had it)
we finally made it.
For 10$ we rode with a guy on a bike thingy
who took us from the red road to our site
and he picked us out the place
he thought would be best.
We set up the tent with the help of a fellow camper
who was so glazed over.
But the help was much appreciated.

All about tents


Most people who got there early lined up on the back wall
in hopes of getting some shade.
There were toilets on both sides of the site.
The first one, on the way to the festival,
also had a water area.
The second one,
closer to the road,
where we should've been dropped off,
never had any lines.

We never used the sticker that was given to us.
We never had to confirm that a site was bought.
The place never completely filled up.
And despite what the website warned,
there were popup tents.

It did get dangerously windy Saturday and Sunday nights.
Sara got booped by a flying canopy.
It was rough.
But our tiny tent held up.
The tent beside us struggled,
a few around the campground collapsed.
Not most of them.
But from what we saw, our tent
and the tents like ours,
held strong.
Here's the link at the more updated version of what we took.
It was super easy to get up
(the guy just helped us nail it in..
well, he kind of took over
but I already knew how to build it up
as I've done so before
and it's very easy.
Super easy.
Nail it down -- with plastic, you're at Coachella, after all,
stick the poles through the holes,
put pin in poles,
bam, you're done.
When you go to put it back,
fold it up until the edges are small enough to fit in bag,
then roll it up.)


I can't comment on the popup tents,
but from what I saw,
they were fine.
And I so wanted to bring mine!
I love my pop-up tent!
(I have two of the same one.)

Side note:
I got the pop-up tent last year
and have camped in it a few times.
It's so easy and convenient!
I should remember to add my photos from those trips...

Scrub Down Time

If you wait during the day time,
or night,
the showers will likely
have mega long lines.
We took our showers between 5am and 7am.
Sunday was the worst
because the showers closest to us
were closed
for the Kanye West Sunday Service
so we had to walk to the car camping showers.
They were grosser
but we didn't have to wait.

The showers weren't so bad.
We wore sandals/flip-flops.
I recommend something like this.
Especially if you can find some on sale
at your local shoe store.
These aren't exactly what I have,
but I carry rubber flats
for communal or hostel showers
to protect my feet.
They hardly take up space in a bag
and I dry them and keep them in a makeup bag
to keep them separated.
Flip-flops and sandals are fine, too,
just be careful
and make sure they're non-slip.
On a pinch, you could try hot gluing zig-zags
at the bottom of old flip-flops
to make them non stick.
Let them harden, then test them out before travel.

Showers close to tent camping was like the ones I usually see at gyms.
You passed through a curtain
to a small area with a bench
then pass through another curtain
to the shower section.
The showers at the CAR CAMPING, on the other hand,
were rough.
All you had was a hook,
which you had to share with your neighbor.
I accidentally dropped my neighbor's towel
when I went to take my bag off the hinge.
I felt awful, but what do you do?
And then one curtain, as opposed to two.
Not that you need two,
but the added space and bench was nice.
These showers were in trailers
which means I suspect it'll be different
each time.
You also have the option of paying $10
for... I'm not really sure what.
'super duper showers' that include a full length mirror
and place to plug in hair things?

The guys who camped next to us/behind us
If you have the space and ability,
I say, go for it.
Especially if you don't want to get up so early.
We did NOT set alarms
and when we did,
we were always up before them
so getting up to shower early didn't bother us.

And we also saw people who used
camelbaks at the watering stations
and did a funny kind of shower that way.
They sell them at Coachella,
though I don't remember the cost.
But it was kind of genius,
especially for water.

Food

Nomnomnomnomnom
There were vegan options,
and paleo diet things
whatever that is.
It was tasty, though.
And if you're dairy-free, like me,
just ask if they have any dairy-free options
and the vendors are usually happy
to help you out.
Food is pricey af.
But it's also very good.
Pizza was $9 (not that I could partake in that)
there were some $7 fries or something.
Most meals I got were $12-$18 each.
Which made me miss Costa Rica
where you could get a large meal
for 3,000 to 4,500 colones each.
That's 2 to 4 meals to 1 Coachella meal,
which may or may not be large.
There were a few meals we were able to share,
and some we probably should have,
but then again, I'm sick
and my appetite is down.
So... that may not be normal?

I tried to encourage Sara
that we should go to the grocery store
and buy food.
We did buy snacks
but somehow there was a miscommunication.
And a mishap when I broke my water bottle
and had to rush outside and toss it.
Shuttle to grocery store was free.
If you do that, grab ice there.
ICE AT COACHELLA WAS $12.
so I encourage you to get some from the store.
They will check the items you buy.
There is a limit (I think it was half a cup for us?) for liquid.
So check the rules!!!
They change them every year.
I got vegan energy bars,
cereal,
and tuna meal kits.
No cooking needed.
I meant to buy sandwich things
and am just now realizing I didn't do that.
Why didn't I do that?
Whatever.

As for what you can cook with,
or if you can cook at all,
read the rules.
They change every year.
We didn't bring anything to cook in,
since we flew in, anyways.

Leaving

It was after taking this photo, I saw the couple pop up, bottom left corner. Not sure they made the shot. Too dark to tell.
Packing up and leaving was a relief.
We grabbed the Coachella to LAX bus
after breaking down our tent
and listening to the couple next to us
have sex
(more detail in next post).
I was able to show the confirmation email
which I found through the search option
in Google mail.
No stops.
Straight on through.
2 to 3 hours.
The flight changed just before we got there.
Which means checking in 24 hours exactly ahead of time
did nothing.
(It was through Southwest Airlines,
they have open seating).
Our flight arrived later than planned
and had us at the Vegas airport for 3 or 4 hours.

We gambled away my dollar at the LAS airport :'(
Here's me, looking like a trucker,
and Sara, looking cute af while dealing with motion sickness.
It's hard to see in the photo, but the city lights were competing with the stars. It looked pretty IRL.


Outro

Lesson learned.
Camping at Coachella sucks.
Car camping probably isn't so bad.
But my advice for people like me,
who insist on going, anyway,
get an AirBnB
or hotel room
and just buy the shuttle bus pass.
You can grub on cheap fast food.
Or whatever else you typically do
when traveling.
And just get dinner at Coachella.

Next, I'll talk about why people like me shouldn't go.
And what it's like for people like me to go.
I had fun!
But also,
I'll never do that again.
Or if I do,
hopefully, I'll play it smarter.

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