It all started last year when Nadja and I kind of joked around, that we would get tickets for Coachella and just a few weeks later I was sitting in front of my computer waiting for my turn to buy my tickets and just 1 hour later Nadja and I were proud owners of Coachella Tickets and a camping spot. (There is a list of Tips and Tricks on the bottom of the whole post and it will probably be edited overtime).
Preparations
For the longest time, we didnt think too much about Coachella, since it seemed to be so far away, but now Coachella is just a week away and we are planning our trip more and more.
How do we get to Coachella? Where are we gonna sleep?
My hostfamily allowed me to use my car for Coachella, so the ride was an easy solution. Since we had a camping spot, we had to decide are we gonna sleep in the car or are we gonna get a tent.
What are we gonna pack for drinks and food?
Since I am not 21 yet we cant bring alcohol into the festival. We decided to buy tons of water and freeze some a couple days before we leave and use them to keep everything cool. We are also gonna bring apples, bananas, cookies and other dry stuff. I will write you guys a list at the end with everything we bought and if we used it. We used a lot of research and seems like you should pack some drinks with electrolytes.
When are we gonna drive there?
Since we are all off on Friday already, we will be leaving Thursday night to avoid traffic and to be able to secure a kind of good spot for camping. My hostmum also gave me Monday off, so unless its totally necessary, we wouldnt be leaving on Sunday and rather sleep at Coachella an extra night.
What are we gonna wear?
I didnt think as much about it as Nadja did. But we have to prepare for hot days and cold nights. So our outfits need to be convertable. I will bring my shorts and tanktops and sweatshirts for nights.
During our research we also found out that they have real showers and bathrooms at Coachella, which was a huge relief for us. At least we can be sure that, we can clean ourselves a little bit everyday.
20. April 2017 (Getting there) and 21.April 2017 (First Day)
I picked up Nadja at the airport Thursday afternoon and on our way home we stopped at Walmart to buy a few essentials. At home we packed up our car and left around 8pm. On the way out of Phoenix we picked up another aupair and drove 4 1/2 hours to Coachella/Indio. While Nadja and I stayed awake and entertained each other, the other girl slept on the back seat and kept telling me how she wouldn’t be able to drive at this time… (very encouraging). Around 1am we finally arrived at Coachella and realized that it was a good idea to bring a tent and pool lounges. But we still weren’t as equipped as others were. We built our tent and blew up our poll lounges real quick and went to bed.
But just the next morning we realized that just a tent was not enough, because the sun rose at 7am and heated our tent like a Sauna.
But neither the tent nor the car made a big shade for very long. So we got ready for the festival and headed there around noon. But there was not a lot of shade either, so after a walk around the venue and some lunch we went back to our tent. Our neighbors were nice enough to share their shade, drinks, food etc. and around dinner time we went back to the venue, but separated because of different shows we wanted to see.
We started to just watch random DJ’s and artist and ate some dinner. After that we finally got to see the ones we really wanted to see. We started our little tour with Steve Angello, followed by Empire of the Sun. After a little break we went to see Radio Head and ended our first day with Dillon Francis. The lightshows were really awesome and so was the atmosphere. Something really nice is that in between the shows people are leaving the area in front of the stage and you can easily get to the front of the crowd and during the performances you weren’t squeezed in or anything and had enough room to dance, breath etc.
So we went back to the tent and after a potty break, I got really sick (no I didn’t drink, smoke or take anything)… Since it just wouldn’t get better and I wouldn’t throw up, we went to the medical tent. But all they could do, was give a me pill to make nausea go away. If I would’ve wanted more I would’ve needed to go the urgent care myself. So we went back to our tent at 2am.
22.April 2017
The sun woke us at 7am again and we were only able to hide for about 4 hours. I was sleeping during this whole time and our neighbors were wondering if I ended up drinking and I have a hangover now. But after the nap and some food I felt better and we went to the festival, so we could charge our phones and portable chargers.
We also relaxed in the shade (we took a towel with us to sit on). Since all our acts didn’t start till later, we used the time to take pictures all over the venue.
So we started the musical day with Bastille, but since I already started feeling sick again, I sat somewhere in the back and the other two ones went somewhere into crowd. Afterwards (and another photo session) we went to eat dinner and got ready for Martin Garrix. But after just a few songs in the middle of the crowd, I started feeling bad again and decided to sit in the back and wait for the others. We planned on seeing DJ Snake, but Martin Garrix was so good that we stayed and only saw the end of DJ Snake’s show from the distance (it looked good though). Our main act was most definitely Lady Gaga. Her show in general really good and spectacular, but she spent way too much time changing her clothes (without any entertainment during that time) and she started 20min late. I again sat in the back and the other two disappeared somewhere in the crowd. Since this was our last concert we went back to the tent, where our neighbors tried to talk us into a party, but the bed won that little fight pretty easily at 2am.
23.April 2017 and 24.April 2017 (Drive Back)
Just like the two days before the sun didn’t care about us and made our tent a little Sauna at 7am. Since all our phones were pretty much dead, we spent the time in the little shade left. Once the shade got smaller and smaller we took turns in taking showers. The other girl asked, if she could use my portable charger and I said since it was almost empty and I knew it wouldn’t charge very fast. So Nadja and I went for a shower and I came back because I forgot my drink and saw that she plugged in her phone anyway and after the relaxing shower (warm water) my portable charger was as dead as my phones.
So after we got ready, we went to the venue and our first stop was the charging station (which didn’t work because of the heat and the sun), so I got really mad at her. We bought some lunch and sat at the H&M store to charge at least a little bit. With that little bit of the battery left we went on the famous Coachella Ferris Wheel (which has AC) and had another photo session during another walk. We started our day with the concerts of Kiiara and Tove Lo. From that stage we went to see Lorde and enjoyed her show. But we had to run from her show to the Sahara stage to see Marshmello ( a really good DJ, with an awesome lightshow). We finished the day with a small stop at Kendrick Lamar, since we had to get up early on monday morning. I fell asleep around 11pm, but got woken up by our neighbors at 2am, because they wanted to find out, if we were asleep or not.
At 4am the alarm went off, because we had to bring the other aupair to the airport in Phoenix (she just didn’t want to change her flight, although there was almost no extra cost). But she took her time and so we left 30min later than planned. She once again fell asleep and only Nadja and I were awake the whole drive and entertained each other again. We arrived in Phoenix around 9am and used the rest of the day to repack, clean up and plan.
Coachella was totally worth it and I recommend it to everyone in the area.
Things we did (not) need
things we needed things we didn’t need things we would’ve need
- tent
- coolbox
- Fruits and Vegetables for snacks (apples, bananas, oranges, carrots…)
- towels
- Bandanas
- PowerBank (min.1/Person)
- cooling towels
- pool lounges/air mattress
- baby wipes
- Water ( if possible freeze part of it to use as a cooler)
- electrolyte (powder)
- yoga mat/-towel
- cereal
- dry snacks (cookies, pretzels…)
- Shampoo, conditioner, body wash (maybe dry)
- trash bags (evtl. grocery bags)
- paper/plastic cups
- plates
- plastic utensiles
- closed toe shoes (we read everywhere we need them, but our sandals were totally fine)
- 20 outfits (choose 1 for each day at home)
- thick sweatshirts (a thin one is totally fine)
- Jucy Van or Wicked Camper (cars that have a tent on top or a bed inside and a kitchen in the back; but they are family van size)
- Pavilion
- Sheets or something similar for pavilion walls
- light chains and other decoration for pavilion
- pillows
- speaker (for music on-campsite)
- ice (if you don’t have frozen water, costs 10$ onsite)
- ice-packs that get cold when you bend them
- tissues
- Fan (with water spray)
- enough sunscreen
- a real mask to prevent breathing in the dust
- bottle with a filter
- camelback backpack for water
Tipps and Tricks for Coachella
- Charge your phone at the H&M store (they won’t heat up)
- fill up the water at H&M (its cold and filtered)
- buy the coachella collection at the H&M store (& receive 15% off if you donate things)
- test the experiences of different sponsors (they are in little buildings with AC)
- buy the merchandise you want right away or it might be sold out
- use the wifi in the morning (there are less people then)
- ride the ferris wheel, it has AC and you should do it when there is already a lot of people walking around
- you can buy cold water for 2$ (500ml)
- there are healthy food options
- there are parts of the venue you can’t access if you are underage (U21), because they sell alcohol
- if you want to camp, use car camping: it gives you more space (but you need a car)
- get a pavilion or otherwise you will melt
- take pictures when you first enter the festival, so you don’t have to worry too much about you make up and hair
- use a mask to prevent breathing in the dust
- bring your own medicine because the medical tent doesn’t have very much
- if you can’t walk to the medical tent, you can ask a security, who will call a golf cart
- there is Walmart in Indio (on the way to Coachella), but you should probably order things online for pick up
- if necessary they offer free shuttles to the grocery store from the campground
Kathi's Travel Adventure 