Directed, written, produced and hosted by: Michaela S. Guzy;  Shot by: Ryan Carpenter; Aerial camerawork by: Graham Newton; Edited by: Kaitlyn Jackson; Audio by: Aaron Jaffe @ Novacaine Studio; Music by: Mr. DJ Collis live.

Since its inception in 1986, Burning Man has been a lightning rod for criticism from a wide variety of political, personal and even internal factions. Despite this, the event has grown annually every year and now boasts international regional events that are growing at a similar pace. As the mainstream media chooses to sensationalize certain aspects of the culture, an engrained stigma has permeated the collective consciousness of those outside the confines of the Burning Man community.

I first attended AfrikaBurn in 2014. My first experience on the African playa, inspired me to have one of my writers create a mini GoPro video and a story explaining the Burn Culture. This year, I returned to AfrikaBurn with a small crew to capture some of the peace, love, art and people exploding from the northern cape of South Africa. The people I met at AfrikaBurn and then at Kalu Yala (please watch my video on Transformative Travel and Millennial Travel habits shot in Panama) continue to inspire me to share these fascinating people’s stories. Many of these same remarkable humans, who I now call friends, have encouraged me to attend Burning Man in 2015 in order to share my personal transformation.

The message ties back so nicely to what my content site stands for, meeting new people, connecting with them on a different level and bringing a newfound open mindedness as they journey onward.

Journey on,
Michaela

Special thanks to: AfrikaBurn, Camp Reality Radio, Jason Smolesky, the Northern Cape of South Africa, Anna & Lana Trzebinski and Travel Designer Ozzy.