There are so many strange trends in the world of travel (and beyond). However, lately a “new type of air travel” which is really special, and which has been given the inappropriate name of “raw dogging“: consists of taking a flight while spending time on board doing (almost) nothing.
That is what is called raw dogging
Raw dogging is a real abstinence from any form of entertainment during a plane flight: no movies, music, books or internet. The only things you can do are look out the window, look into space or at the map of your travel route. In essence, you must be alone with yourself and your thoughts.
A magazine article talks about it CNN who is talking about Michael Ceelya therapist from California specializing in working with men, who believed that raw dogging was a form of digital detox and meditation. However, a growing number of young people on the Internet, especially on social media, adopt this same practice, turning it into a kind of competition, especially between men.
Just take a look around the major social networks to find videos of men who have also decided to go beyond the challenge, that is, not to eat anything served on board or, even, to avoid it. go to the bathroom. However, in theory, eating and peeing are primary needs, and not forms of entertainment on board.
The trend is particularly popular on social media, where users challenge each other to see who can travel the longest distance while using the least number of possible services, so much so that they still have more than 1.3 million Likes.
Even some women, lately, seem to be interested in this new travel trend, so much so TikToks they even called it their “preferred form of travel.”
Where does this trend come from?
In an article by GQ you can read that the journalist Kate Lindsay traces the origin of this trend to the television show hijacked, in which the character played by Idris Elba is on a plane without a phone or other devices.
However, in the show, the character does not have much time to look into space, as he is busy trying to negotiate with a group of terrorists who have hijacked the plane he is on.
Is it really detox?
In essence, raw dogging is now disguised as a form of digital detox and meditation in all major social networks, to the point of attracting the attention of a large community of users. But is it really so or is it just a false belief of those who practice it?
As reported in an article by The Independent, raw dogging at its best is a demonstration of true Spartan mental strength and endurance. At worst, however, it is yet another strange and crudely named male obsession with self-control, hidden behind the facade of mental or physical discipline.
Of course, no one forbids spending hours and hours of travel in the air without doing anything other than looking out the window, but it is really difficult to find any kind of benefit, whether mental, spiritual and / or physical.