10 Things We Wish We Knew About Coachella Before Going

Attending Coachella for our first time was an experience to say the least. Court and I have been to a ton of music festivals together but this one was truly in a whole other realm of its own. It requires strategy and preparedness as you prep yourself for battle aka entering the hoards of girls walking around in barely-there outfits as their glitter hair whips you in the face (guilty as charged). While music festivals were once a time to let loose and not have a care in the world – Coachella is quite the opposite. You must have all the cares in the world in order to survive. So with this wary manifesto, I present our Top 10 things we wish we knew about Coachella before actually going to Coachella.

The cell reception is awful: Either from everyone Insta Storying their lives away or from texting their friends back home about how much fun they are having, trying to get in touch with anyone at the festival is virtually impossible.
Time stamp every single text: Because service is so bad, make sure you manually insert a time stamp every time you send a text so the recipient knows when you actually sent it. For example: “Hey it’s Kelly, I am at the water station, I will meet you at Weezer. 5:15pm.”
You need the latest update on your phone in order to download the Coachella app which actually activates your wristband: I did not know this and was in a bit of a tizzy last minute on Friday as I anxiously slurped down a vodka soda (sans ice – don’t ask) and waited for my phone to reactivate.
Put sunscreen everywhere, even your scalp: OK, I know this sounds weird but for myself, I had braids on the top of my head and my scalp got completely burnt.
You can only drink in certain areas of the festival: This one really through us for a loop and Kyle may have had a mini breakdown when learning this little tidbit on the first day. You can only drink in the “beer gardens” so don’t expect to be dancing around with a Bud Light in hand in your near Coachella future.
Bandanas are not just to look cool: It is so dusty (hello it’s a desert) that literally you need a bandana to cover your mouth and nose – I am still blowing dirt out of my nose 3 days later. TMI?
Buy a shuttle pass: Look, I love efficiency and the shuttle really blew my mind with how easy it was. I never waited for a bus, waited in a line or had any complications with finding out where I needed to be and when. We would drive from our house in Palm Springs to the shuttle stop and be at the festival in about 45 minutes. So easy.
Bring a backpack and fill it up with the goods: NOT the goods you are thinking, get your head out of the gutter. I am talking a sweatshirt (it get’s chilly at night), an empty water bottle (so you can refill at the water stations), toilet paper (because you know that stuff runs out early) and band aids (because you will be a hero to your friend who is crying about the blisters from the shoes you told her not to wear.)
No one actually gets to the festival before 6pm: Honestly, this was news to me because like HELLO I PAID SOME FAT $$ TO GO WATCH SOME PEEPS. Alas, we were happy to be among the early crowd because who doesn’t like a shorter line and actually being able to see the stage?
The festival is larger, plan accordingly: While the map may look small, the stages are really far apart, it can take at the very least 10 minutes to get from one stage to the next.