Awesome Campers We Met at Nocturnal Wonderland 2017

We’re back for another round of Nocturnal Wonderland, which means another round of Awesome People. We switched things around this time as we roamed the land of Nocturnal Wonderland camping in search of awesome people and found everything we were looking for.

Get to know some of the awesome campers we met at Nocturnal Wonderland 2017.

Name: Mimi and Raymond
Age: 28 (Mimi); 30 (Raymond)
Hometown: Anaheim, CA (both)
Occupation:
Mimi: Retail manager at the Disneyland Resort.
Raymond: I work at the Disneyland Resort.
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland?
Mimi: This is my third Nocturnal, but I’ve been raving since 2012.
Raymond: I’ve been to every Nocturnal, except once, since 2009. The only one I missed [was because] I was at Burning Man. It’s a legitimate excuse!
What’s your spirit animal?
Mimi: Cat—they’re always on the prowl. At the beginning of my raving career, one of my friends gave me the rave name “Sex Kitten.” It just kind of stuck ever since.
Raymond: A bear, because roooooaaaar!
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival?
Mimi: The people, meeting your neighbors, the camaraderie, and everybody coming together.
Raymond: My favorite thing is how legit my girlfriend is with camping, but just meeting the people. It’s so nice just being in the festival; the whole experience is at the festival.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend?
Mimi: We brought stuff to make, like melts, in the waffle iron on the stove. We’ve got Texas toast and ham and cheese, so we can make grilled ham and cheese and grilled cheese, but on the waffle iron, which is a little different.
Raymond: We got some cheese turkey melts that we’re gonna be making, but that’s really it. WAFFLES!

Name: Jasmine & Larson
Age: 18 (both)
Hometown: Folsom, CA (both)
Occupation: Jimboy’s Tacos (Jasmine); cabinet maker (Larson)
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? First (both)
What’s your spirit animal? Cat (Jasmine); giraffe (Larson)
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival?
Larson: Everyone brings their own little piece of home.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend?
Jasmine: Top Ramen, chips and salsa, and marinara pasta.

Name: Emily
Age: 24
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Occupation: Nurse
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? First time
What’s your spirit animal? Dolphin.
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival? People can express themselves. The way people act here—the rest of the world should act like this.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? Macaroni and cheese.

Name: Alexander
Age: 28
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Occupation: Artist
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? Two
What’s your spirit animal? American buffalo, because they are strong.
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival? The vibes, the people you get to meet, and the unity. You’re able to have a completely different experience when camping at a festival.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? Chips and salsa, but our neighbors are definitely helping to keep us fed with hamburgers and grilled cheeses.

Name: Bo
Age: 26
Hometown: Simi Valley, CA
Occupation: I have four jobs and go to school full-time [for engineering].
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? First time
What’s your spirit animal? Unicorn
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival? This is my first time camping at a festival, but as soon as we parked, I was impressed by how everyone was just so welcoming. I’ve bonded with all my neighbors; I found out that the people next to us live about 10 miles away from me. I’m definitely going to be camping at festivals in the future.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? A lot of snacks. Some veggie burgers. I spent a few hundred [dollars] at Trader Joe’s. The guy that I came with is full-blown vegan, so we have a bunch of different things to eat.

Name: Dallyn and Raphis
Age: 19 (both)
Hometown: Reno, NV (both)
Occupation: Nurse (Dallyn), retail (Raphis)
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? First time; [we’ve] been to EDC and Beyond.
What’s your spirit animal? The sloth (both)
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival?
Dallyn: It’s really like a community. Everyone is together, hanging around each other, and looking out for one another. People help each other out, and that’s great. We all like to dance together, so why not spend more time with the people you like to dance with? It’s nice; it’s bonding.
Raphis: I feel like you meet way more people by camping. In the hotel, you’re literally just sitting there or sleeping, but not here.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? Not much, really. Hardly anything. Applesauce. Oh, and some pretzels. And we got some cookies at a gas station on the way here.

Name: Aaliyah
Age: 22
Hometown: Upland, CA
Occupation: Restaurant
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? Two, [but] I’ve been to a bunch of Insomniac shows.
What’s your spirit animal? Jellyfish
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival? I love it because [of] the community, and you don’t have to leave after the show and worry about drunk drivers. But really, it’s all about the community; our camping neighbors are beautiful people.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? Soyrizo this morning, and we’ve been snacking on cheese and Wheat Thins. We also have some Spam and macaroni and cheese going. Oh, and some apples and bananas.

Name: Paula
Age: 19
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Occupation: Manager at McDonald’s
How many times have you been to Nocturnal Wonderland? Two
What’s your spirit animal? I have no idea…
What’s your favorite thing about camping at a festival? I love that there’s always something to do. Usually you’d just be in the hotel sleeping and waiting to go, but here, you can catch some sets after the show, you can go to the swim park, make arts and crafts. There’s lots of things to do.
What did you bring to eat? What’s on the menu this weekend? Not much. The friends I came with are bodybuilders, so they brought a bunch of pre-made meals, carbs and stuff like that. I’m going to eat when I get inside the show.