Stillfire, I'm sorry, I had to laugh! this will be my 26th Fest and I still lose my tent sometimes!! It used to be every single year I would lose my way at least once--the true makings of a tradition! Last few years I've camped almost ON the Easy Street Trail, so some years I don't actually lose my tent anymore. But a couple yrs ago, I was taking a short cut thru the Zone--middle of the day, mind you--and off to my right I saw the cutest set up of a real swimming pool with pool toys, the whole bit. Wowza! Walked on a bit and then, off to my left I see another swimming pool. Hmmm... The very same pool toys!!! I actually had to ask directions to the trail, from a sweet young thing that was very nice to what she must have thought was a Festie Virgin.

thats why i always camp in the same area and close to a trail. although i have gone to the janes in the middle of the night without a flashlight and managed to find myself on the top of workshop meadow in some bushes. really don't know how that happened.

I got all excited when I found a remote control light to clip onto my tent. AND it was on sale. I tested it and it just doesn't work and the store is out of them and not restocking. Maybe this is why it was on sale.
I had grand ideas about how to mark my trail but haven't figured it out still. I will be ok (I hope). If by some mistake I enter the wrong camping area please forgive me... I'm new here.

thanks everyone for the commiserations on directional challenges. someone made up a word for me recently, and i now call myself dysperegrinated! it means lacking sense of direction, or loosely something to that effect. it is often an embarrassing thing for me, so i am going to make it an intention for fest to not be embarrassed by it. thanks!

macosta, that made me laugh!

and El? how could you possibly loose your site? LOL

oh wait ... last year I got lost coming back from a midnight trip to the janes. HOW could that possibly have happened???? I walked back & forth and back & forth a dozen times until I found the familiar tree I needed to turn by.

and I had camped in the same exact spot 3 or 4 years in a row even!

I am going to use glow bracelets and put a torn rag through it and tie around some trees to lead my way home.

I was disappointed in my remote light too. For one thing, I thought it was heavier than I wanted, but I liked the idea of the remote control to turn it on. It worked a couple times,then time to change battery but it had those coin sized batts and you need the little plastic batt holder to insert it. Never got it functioning again.

I bought a handful of yellow flags on wire sticks, like the power company uses. I put the first on as close to the trail as possible w/o making it a trip hazard, then every few feet to my site. Not more than 30 feet off the trail, but I swear it's a life saver.

OK, so now that we've been spammed?

I will be bringing a paper lantern that runs on 2 AA batteries and a on & off switch. I will turn it on when I get dressed for night stage and then find my way home later at night.

Remember the wonders of reflective tape. . .it sits there looking innocuous until lights shine on it and then it is bright and reflective. I know my way home to my fest tent really well now, but when I first went to fest, I attached small pieces of reflective tape to little branches/bushes on the way to my fest tent. And, I had a flag with reflective stripes hanging from my tarp line. Now I just have a few pieces of reflective tape on my tarp line to guide me for the last bit of "off the trail" travel to my tent.

And, OF COURSE, I am VERY careful to retrieve each little piece of tape before I leave the land. . .

and. . .for those who are thinking of using the disposable glow bracelets/sticks/etc. . .please remember that they are one-time use things that create a lot of plastic trash. . .

Place something colorful and distinctive a few feet ABOVE your tent so it is visible from a distance. Inflatable items such as toys are great-- take up little space packed, brightly colored, easy to hang.

Same with a light if you feel it necessary to use one, and hanging it above allows you to use a dimmer one. also you can use a light with a distinctive shape or color. Again, something collapsible like cover with a chinese-type lantern can work here (of a material that can get rained on)

But if you follow the first suggestion, there often is enough ambient light from other campsites that you don't need to use a light of your own.

I am EXTREMELY directionally challenged. I used several of the ideas mentioned;
*Battery Operated “Peace” lights hung in the trees around my tent (they didn’t give off much light, but enough that I could see them from the path or the non-path when I turned too soon the first night) With an on/off switch I just cut them on when I left & off when I got back.
*Camped within visual distance of a main pathway (not the road) and near major land marks like the Janes, parking lot, showers, etc
*Hung bright yellow GIANT butterflies (purchased at a party store in the clearance section) in the trees near the places I needed to turn. Hung high enough as to not hit anyone in the head, but still visible. Because they were a nice bright yellow the shinning moonlight was enough that I didn’t even need to shine my flashlight on them most nights.

A very large piece of fabric (dare I say sarong?) can also be an attention-attracting mechanism. You could bungee one around a tree at the turnoff from the main path, and then add a couple more leading the way to your tent.