Features

A Relix Intern’s Bonnaroo Road Diary

Each year, we send a large group of our summer interns down to Bonnaroo to assist with our booth and the production of the festival’s daily newspaper, the Bonnaroo Beacon. This year, we asked two of our editorial interns to document their journey down to the festival for some color on the long journey from New York City to Manchester, TN.

The Road to ‘Roo 2012

Five people and hundreds of Relix magazines packed in a cargo van for a sixteen-hour drive from New York City to Manchester, Tennesee. Take a peek into this year’s Relix road trip to Bonnaroo through the diary of two interns:

2:45pm – After a lot of packing and some lunch, we finally get this show on the road. BONNAROO 2012 YEAH!

2:48pm – Chris forgot the credit card swipers at his place in Brooklyn. We take a two-hour detour accompanied by some Bob Dylan bootlegs.

4:30pm – Stuck in traffic for the Holland Tunnel, we come up next to a car packed with camping gear. Chris flashes them the Relix “Road to Bonnaroo” issue and we get four thumbs up. Making friends already.

5-7pm – Nap time for most of us in the van. Sam plays ‘Roo bands White Denim and Trampled by Turtles (both of which were included in the Relix Festival Guide).

7:30pm – We make our first stop for a quick Walmart shopping trip (rain boots are in order) and Subway sandwiches. We also hit up a gas station that has a self-serve dog wash.

8pm – A game of “Would you rather…” is kicked off with a choice between lifelong constipation and diarrhea. We cycle through questions involving superpowers and midgets.

9:30pm – We’ve been listening to stand-up for at least half an hour and nobody has even so much as cracked a smile. Dylan shares some Rory Scovel (who performed at ‘Roo with Aziz Ansari) and his Japanese gummy candies, officially becoming the hero in the van.

12am – Our last gas stop of the night is at a closed station, which forces some of us to make a bathroom out of the nearby bushes.

2am – We stop for the night, appreciating what might be our last decent showers for a few days to come.

8am – Breakfast with lots of friendly, older couples and tiny kittens that are roaming the hotel’s lobby. We pack up and are on our way again by 10.

12pm – Everyone votes for a Chick-Fil-A lunch stop. On our way back to the highway, Chris takes a wrong turn and we end up in a church parking lot for a few minutes. So close, yet so far.

2:30pm – In Manchester, TN, we’re met with hectic traffic but, with four days of music ahead, nothing can damper our excitement.