It’s been a fascinating year. This year I kept roaming the world, but for the first time in a long time, I did it solo. And I stumbled into a new mission: building weird temporary cities out of art, fire, and often too much sound.
London
After spending some time with family, I started the year in London watching a lot of new and interesting documentaries in independent cinemas. It was fun being back in the city for a while, but it was also a reminder of how expensive the place can be – a small reminder of why I enjoy being in Asia.
China
I returned to China where I reconnected with my old drinking buddies. As a wise man once said, Shanghai is a city, but the nightlife is a village. And that village is where I feel the most at home.
Dragon Burn
At the end of 2024 I thought that Dragon Burn was over. We had to cancel at the last minute thanks to new regulations, and it felt like the end. But my friends in China refused to let it die, and this year Dragon Burn came back.
It truly felt like a journey I didn’t know I needed. I was going through a major life change at the time, and ended up putting a lot of effort into the event. We ran a successful Burn, and it will return again next year. And, although I didn’t know it yet, this would give me a new direction in life.
Stans
After the Burn I took a trip around Central Asia. In Kazakhstan I met some friendly locals, experienced the extreme heat of banya (Russian sauna), and learned how to play Russian Billiards. In Kyrgyzstan I climbed Altyn Arashan on the anniversary of quitting smoking, the highest peak I’ve ever climbed. Then in Uzbekistan I spent more time relaxing and exploring the architecture and blue tiles in Samarkand.
A Burn Crawl
Last year I went to India and helped to set up Portal 91, a regional Burn. This year I set out to do the same. This time I went for the multiple entry visa so I could visit more often and stay for longer. I connected with the India crew and we went to help set up again. It was a small, but fun, Burn with pool parties, music, and daily news updates.
After this we travelled together to Burning Japan. I had been here a couple of times before, when it was still essentially a few dozen people in a field. That was several years ago, however, and this time they had levelled up. Giant robots wandered the fields, hog roasts were made every day, and the art and music flowed. It was a spectacular Burn.
At Burning Japan I learned that people in Taiwan were setting up a Zone Trip. Zone Trips were started by the Cacophony Society, and were the basis for the modern-day Burning Man, so I was on board. We travelled to Taiwan and built a Man to Burn, pitched a tent in the windy desert, and hosted a barbecue with the huge amounts of meat we brought.
Somewhere between India, Japan, and Taiwan, I realised this was becoming my life. One of helping to build Burns.
SantaCon
Burning Man wasn’t the only major event that was started by the Cacophony Society. SantaCon started as a protest against Capitalism and soon started to spread around the world. As part of the Shanghai Cacophony Society I became involved with running the bar crawl in Shanghai a few years ago, and so this year I returned to help out.
Once again, we painted the town red, with Santas wandering the streets. I ended up staying out for 2 days, not getting back to my hotel until 4am on Monday. It turns out that people want to drink with you when you’re wandering around dressed in a big red suit.
SantaCon is not a Burn, but it comes from the same DNA. One of free expression, fun costumes, and people gathering to turn a space into a playground.
Christmas and Cumbria
Finally, I capped off the year by returning home to visit family. Nothing beats your mother’s roast dinner, and mine is no exception.
After Christmas we spent some time hiking in Aspull, and also took a trip to Cumbria to climb Loughrigg Fell. It was my first time in the Lake District for almost two decades, so standing on Loughrigg Fell after years of desert dust and city skylines, it felt good to remember where all this started.
The Future
The plan for 2026 is simple: learn how to build better Burns in as many places as will have me, and try to build connections between Burns to create a larger Asian Burn community.
This month I’m continuing my Burner journey by flying to New Zealand to join KiwiBurn’s Ministry of Public Works. I’m going to get my hands dirty building the site, and then I’ll volunteer for the Black Sheep Rangers.
One of these is Lampu, the Bali Regional Burn. I’m trying to get involved with Rangering there as well, and I’ll likely help build it up as well. Then, of course, I’ll be returning to Dragon Burn and Portal 91, and perhaps some other Burns in the area if I can find them.
2026 will be the Year of Many Burns. If you see a tired British guy with a radio, a beer, and a hi-vis vest, don’t be afraid to say hi.
