Be honest: long flight hours are drop-dead boring. Passengers usually devote their time to watching in-flight entertainment, downloaded movies or TV shows and listening to music or podcasts. But the rule is an exception for “raw-doggers”. This latest social media travel trend is suitable for passengers who can endure the entire flight minus any form of entertainment; which means, no phone, no books, no music and sometimes, no snacks as well. The only exception allowed for raw-doggers is watching the in-flight GPS tracking screen showing the plane's movement through the flight.
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According to a report by The Street, Google Trends reveals that the term “raw-dogging flight” witnessed a sudden surge by the end of spring this year. TikTok users have been sharing their experience of raw-dogging on the video platform. “Just raw-dogged a 7-hour flight (new personal best). No headphones, no movie, no water, nothing,” claimed Wudini, a UK-based DJ in a video posted on June 4, as cited by People.
Documenting their activity-free flights, TikTok user Veronica Skaia wrote, “My beige flag is that I raw dog flights. “No headphones. No movies. I just stare into the abyss for hours and watch the little GPS plane.” Torren Foot, an Australian musician echoed a similar sentiment saying, “Just raw dogged it, 15-hr flight to Melbourne, no music, no movies, just flight map (I counted to 1 million twice).”
Another user named West revealed that he survived a seven-hour flight with the sole company of a flight map. “I've got DMs on Instagram like, ‘Bro, you need to teach us how to bareback flights,” he said in an interview with GQ, as cited by People. “I got sick of watching the same movies. Visually, you are kind of impaired. You only get to look at the seat in front of you, to your right or left if you're at the window. All you hear is that drumming sound of the engine. It's just white noise,” he added.
'Raw-dogging' was first heard in the 1989 American sitcom Seinfeld where the character David Puddy (Patrick Warburton) incorporated the term into action during a flight. David refused the offer to read anything during his flight irritating Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
The benefit of raw-dogging flights is said to be the almost-meditative quality it allows for when all forms of stimulation are tuned off, which allows the mind to function clearly without distraction.
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