Woman Goes Viral Recounting Her First-Ever Coachella. She Was Shocked by What Happened Next (Exclusive)

• Davanity Zepeda posted a video after she and her friend arrived at the Coachella campgrounds, where she and her friend got “off to a bad start” trying to set up their home for the weekend.
• She told millions of viewers about how she waited over six hours in the heat before security let them into the site, and they had to replace a broken canopy.
• Though she considered leaving the event, Zepeda tells PEOPLE she ended up having a great time at the festival and plans to return next year to camp again.

Coachella may seem like a glamorous desert getaway with luxury accommodations, but it’s not always all sunshine and rockstars down in the desert.

Last weekend, Davanity Zepeda bucked the “Instagram versus reality” trope and showed her social media followers what it really looks like to camp out at the festival. In a video with over 9 million views on TikTok, the first-time Coachella goer filmed herself at the grounds on “day zero,” when attendees start setting up their cots ahead of the first performances.

Zepeda was eating a sandwich as she admitted that she and her best friend Jen were “not doing well” on the sunny SoCal day.

“People made it look so easy,” said Zepeda. Describing their dilemmas, she continued, “One of the canopies that we bought was broken. That was off to a bad start. We waited six and a half hours in line for security to let us in, in the heat.”

In the video, she noted that she doesn’t necessarily consider herself a “nature girly” and had contemplated leaving the campsite and staying in a hotel room instead. Speaking to PEOPLE days later, however, Zepeda says it was her idea to rough it in the first place.

“I had seen videos the prior year, and I knew that in order to get the full Coachella experience we had to do car camping,” she explains. She expected it to be hard, but the wait and the broken canopy provided completely unexpected obstacles that nearly pushed Zepeda to drive another six hours back up the coast to her home in Northern California.

“We were ready to leave that first day. As soon as we finished setting up, we got into the car, and I tried to sell my tickets on a secondhand website,” she recalls. “I was so over it. My friend and I were so hot our heads were hurting. We were about to leave.”

Ultimately Jen changed her mind by reminding Zepeda how much they already invested into the trip. Her friend was particularly set on getting her money’s worth since she paid full price, whereas Zepeda’s ticket was reimbursed by a car camping brand she was promoting.

They were able to replace the broken canopy and eventually made themselves comfortable in their rustic home for the weekend, which was complete with cots, a table and some ice chests for food. Once things were settled, Zepeda’s attitude shifted and the duo went on to enjoy the festival in full — even when they ran out of ice and were left only with food offered inside the event.

She continued to update her followers as her experience became increasingly enjoyable over the weekend, but viewers still clung to the content she initially shared. Many took to the comment section to air their personal opinions in line with Zepeda’s less-than-stellar review.

“The Coachella experience sounds like hell on earth,” one TikTok user wrote. Another person doubted how much attendees can actually enjoy without splurging: “Coachella is only fun if you’re rich. Don’t waste your time,” the comment read.

At the time, Zepeda was too busy running between performances to check out what the internet was saying about her viral video, but when she had some time to check it out, she was most shocked by one response in particular.

“What caught people’s attention was the sandwich, to be honest. That was the number one comment,” she notes. “They were like, ‘What is in that sandwich? It looks so good on a hot day.'”

Ham, lettuce, mayo and pepper jack cheese aren’t the only ingredients needed to make Coachella car camping fun, but Zepeda does think the keep is to “keep it simple.”