Well, I had a ticket for Reno the Saturday before Burning Man. I had a ride arranged up to the playa, my luggage was paid for and I had two nights in a hotel already paid for (no refund). However, I had a problem in customs. The woman at the desk waved and smiled and said "Have a nice time in Phoenix." I corrected her and said "Reno."

The woman's eyes went really big for a second, then she composed herself. She gave me a forced smile, and told me to go though the green doors.

When I got into customs, the very first thing they said to me was "RENO? BURNING MAN?" He turns to his friends and says "Have you heard of Burning Man? Oh, we know all about Burning Man! That's when they Burn the Man. Sometimes though, the man burns you!"

Then they told me to lean against a conveyor belt while they searched through my stuff. They asked if I had any marijuna on me, and of courseI didn't. However, since I read on the Toronto regional packing list for Burning Man that rolling papers are hard to obtain in Nevada, I bought five packs of rolling papers and put them in my carry on luggage. I thought these would make good gifts.

(Turns out this is false. I called the hotel I had been booked at and apparently rolling papers are available for sale in Nevada. I am Canadian I know very little about the laws of the United States, so when people tell me that they don't sell rolling papers in a certain state I believe them. I went to the Motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota last year and someone told me that they stopped selling rolling papers in that specific town, for the duration of the Motorcycle rally.)

I also brought all my Tobacco pipes with me. The guy was suspicious. "If these are tobacco pipes, where is the tobacco?" I told him I left all the tobacco at home because I thought it was extra weight. He said something like "You sure do like to smoke all those tobacco pipes, don't you James?" I said "Sure."

He asked me what I do for a living, and I told him I was self-employed. I do airbrushing and silkscreening on T-shirts. I was bringing my airbrushes to Burning Man as well, as part of Sin Camp. I was supposed to do airbrushing on people as well as shirts. This made him suspicious. I imagine he was thinking I was planning on setting up an illegal airbrushing business in Reno.

He asked why I was bringing so much stuff with me. (two 50 lbs. duffel bags, carry on, and personal item). I told him I had to survive on my own in the desert for a week. He said 'There's going to be other people there, won't they all be able to help you out?" I told him that we were expected to be self-sufficient.

The night before the flight, my family was helping me to pack and prepare. Everyone in my family were giving me things such as money for the trip, and goods to give as gifts. The border guy held up a bag of about fifty tiny red maple-leaf pins and called other border guards over to see it.. "Would you look at that? What do you make of that?" The whole concept of 'giving gifts' seemed to make them suspicious.

He was pretty suspicious that I was getting a one way ticket to the event, and getting a ride back to Toronto in an RV. "You have a lot of gear packed, and a one way ticket. How do I have any assurance that you will be coming back into Canada?" "I own a house here (in Canada)" I told him. He asked me this four times. I actually had a receipt for the deposit for the return trip home, but he neither asked me for it...nor did I remember to present it for him.

In the end, the only thing they could deny me access was because I brought along a bottle of anti-depressant medication. I have been previously diagnosed with depression, and the doctor gave me these meds a long time ago. The Doctor who prescribed them has since quit her practice. I didn't think that there would be a problem with bringing legal prescription drugs across the border.

Now thanks to the Homeland Securities Department and the Patriot Act, they want me to get a note from MY DOCTOR as well as THEIR DOCTOR, attesting to the fact that my psychiatric condition does not render me a danger to myself or others. This is a problem for me, because I haven't seen a psychiatrist for two years.

Unless I get this form filled out, I will never be permitted into the United States again, at all, ever. It will cost me $250 to file this form, and could cost $350 an hour if the Doctor has to call a lawyer or Psychiatrist. Also, this form has to be renewed every five years. This puts me in a difficult situation. My best friend married an American woman, and now lives in the United States. He wanted me to come and visit with him.

At first, I was confident that I could get this wrapped up in time to make Burning Man this year. However, it turns out that the U.S. customs Doctor will be away for this week. My father's Doctor friend advised me that I have to be very, very careful about this whole thing, or I will never be allowed into the U.S. ever again. He also told me that this will take weeks if I am lucky, and most likely months.

I really didn't see this coming. I don't even take the Paxil anymore, I just tossed it into my bag as a last minute thing. I didn't see a problem with it, since it is a legal prescription drug.

I think some of the problems were:

1) Going through Toronto airport, instead of Buffalo. I didn't think Toronto would be as much of a problem as Buffalo, since my name (not me) also happens to be on a 'No Fly' list.

2) Booking a one-way ticket: I had the choice of booking a two-way ticket, but a fellow Burner from Toronto was offering a ride back in his RV for about the same price. A cross country trip in an RV seemed to be more convenient, not to mention more fun. The customs guy seemed to think I was planning on staying, working and living illegally in Reno though.

3) Rolling papers: It was suggested on the Toronto local list to pack along rolling papers, since I was falsely informed that they are hard to get in Nevada. I brought five packs, since I thought they would be good for gifts. Customs didn't believe me that they were for tobacco, and they also said that you could buy rolling papers in any store in Reno (Which seems to be the case).

4) The pipes, although they are tobacco pipes, seemed to be a problem as well. Apparently, it is very unusual to smoke tobacco in a pipe anymore.

Bringing the paxil was obviously a very big mistake as well. For some reason, I was anticipating being depressed. I really wish I would have flushed all that pharmaceutical crap down the toilet a year ago like I wanted to do. The thing that stopped me was considering that it would end up in everyone else's drinking water.

I have about a dozen to twenty people down there expecting me to show up, and some that were even counting on me.

-I already have paid for a hotel room booked in Reno for two days. A woman (Kim) was planning on staying in this hotel room with me.
-I booked an RV to get up there with two other people, that was supposed to pick me and my gear up sunday. (Wille Wylie and Glenn)
-Some people from my camp were expecting me to show up. (Stag Camp). Especially John (Mzfit).
-There are about five people from 'Tribe' that I was looking forwards to meeting on Wednesday. (Rhino, Rockstar)
-'Sin City' camp was looking forwards to having an airbrush artist there. I would be airbrushing people's bodies as well as shirts. Besides himself, I would be the only other airbrush artist working to my knowledge.
-Also, there was someone from Toronto who I already gave $100 deposit to so that he would hold my spot on the RV, for the return trip to Toronto on Sunday evening.

There is the matter of the $1000 already invested as well. I suppose I can try to get the airplane ticket transferred to next year, if I can't make it this year. There is no refund for the Hotel, and no refund for the Burning Man ticket. Hopefully, two other Burners will be able to share the hotel room that is already paid for.

UPDATE: I have been told that the biggest issue was getting a one-way ticket. This is a big red flag to the U.S. customs that this person might be intending to live and work illegally in the United States. I had no idea that this was the case. I didn't think there would be a problem with getting a one-way ticket to Reno, then getting a ride back to Toronto in an RV. From the perspective of customs, I might not have been stopped at all if I didn't have a one way ticket. The fact that I was a foreigner with a one-way ticket to the United States compounded and magnified all of the other things.