I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. Summer has got to be the best season of them all. If you love adventure as much as I do, there is nothing like the summertime, with its endless possibilities, wide-open roads and music festivals big and small, far and wide.

Festivals are very different from ordinary concerts. There's a real value in seeing a lot of great artists and bands in the same place, and when you couple that with the adventure of getting out of your normal routine and into new surroundings, the experience is something you will never forget.

This summer I attended a lot of festivals representing Interrobang, and I learned a lot of things along the way. Submitted for your consideration, I give you the official FSU/Bobbyisms Festival Survival Guide ... may it inspire a thousand musical adventures all your own.

Lighten your load
When it comes to taking in festivals, the name of the game is keeping your personal gear as close to zero as possible. You'll need your cell phone, obviously, and it's possible you'll need some form of identification, but beyond that, the object is to move as lightly and unencumbered as you possibly can.

The statement is even truer with festivals in the summer; the heat and sunshine are already a lot to bear, if you add to that some sort of sweater or backpack, you're only compounding the effect the heat will have on you. As long as you've got a few pockets for ID, money and a festival program, you're in great shape.

Living cheaply
Food and drink at festivals that are enclosed can get to be very pricy. If you go to a festival like Edgefest that is held within a certain space within a park, chances are that you aren't allowed any outside food, and you may even be told to dump out that bottle of water from home to refill it inside. Even if you have more options than the festival vendors themselves, keeping costs down at a festival can be tricky. As a general guideline, consider keeping $40 on you — that should cover any parking or transit costs you incur, buy you a couple of drinks and meals throughout the day and likely leave money left over for the next day ... or for that tantalizing ice cream cone as the sun is starting to set.

Gumshoe says what?
Regardless of the format of the festival you're visiting, regardless of the acts you're seeing or the location of the events, there are going to be rules in place to attempt to strike a balance between the organizers and the thousands of people in attendance. It's important to be prepared, sure, but the key is to do that little bit of homework to know what you're going to need and what restrictions are in place from festival to festival.

Obviously you're not out to break any rules or cause any trouble, but you may not realize that you can't have your expensive camera with you, or that your stainless steel bottle — practical as it may be — isn't welcome on the festival grounds. It's a lot less trouble to take a few minutes to read the event guidelines than to have to return to your car, hotel room or worse.

But that's not all! Oftentimes there are additional parties or events going on near the festival, and finding them is as easy as reading through the festival website or finding out what hashtags people are using on Twitter. Don't be afraid to mention or Like a brand on Facebook as well — it's simple to remove later but could be the difference between scoring swag or not. A half-hour spent in social media could mean entry to a rooftop party or a few free beer vouchers, and you won't be sorry in that case.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of a festival that you won't see anywhere else:

If you have a pass or laminate, never take it off. Mine somehow got me side-stage at a secret Stars concert in an art gallery during NXNE, even though it wasn't a festival event. I was five feet away from the band the whole time!

Bring a pen and a lighter. You may not foresee these two items being useful, but they will be. On the other hand, don't bring headphones or a separate music player — you definitely won't use them after listening to music all day and will have carried them for nothing.

Take a chance on bands you haven't heard of before. There's a reason they were booked to begin with — the hottest music festivals have a healthy balance of popular established acts and notable upand- coming talent, so have a little faith and let yourself fall in love with something new.

Talk to the crowd in between acts as much as possible. At Osheaga in downtown Montréal, the crowd was more English-speaking than French, and I staved off homesickness by meeting lots of people who had made the trip from London.

Be sure to charge your phone and put a fresh memory card and batteries in your camera before leaving. And at nighttime, be sure to dump all the photos onto your computer and plug in your phone. When Dallas Green suddenly walks by — and he will — you will never forgive yourself for missing that photo.

For more music news, views and streams, follow me on Twitter @FSU_Bobbyisms or Tumblr at bobbyisms.com and check out the Music Recommendations thread in our FSU social network. I hope you've all had a great summer! I'm out of words