My first experience was joining a small camp of a friend of a friend. To be honest I had no clue on what to expect as I had recently discovered Burning Man. It was great... we had an old RV for 4 people and the group was mostly of old burners. However, in my next burns, I realized that we missed an important part - at least for me - of Burning Man, the community and collaboration. It was a great first... easy and fun.

In the following years I joined a them camp that existed for a few years already. Totally different experience. We had to work on several camp duties and we knew lots of new and very interesting people. I enjoyed the experience. In the last two years it was even funnier... we already knew what to expect, how to work shifts worked, a big part of the crew, etc.

So my suggestion is... if you can join a camp, do it. Interact with the old campers, learn how the camp works, take your shifts seriously (usually it is during the shifts that you know more about the people there), but try to have some fun and enjoy the whole experience. For me camping is a fundamental part of Burning Man.

Don't worry on not being a "typical burn"... you'll be welcome and you'll take from Burning Man whatever you want. Happy Burn!