What on earth is ‘rawdogging’? The unlikely travel trend taking over social media

What on earth is ‘rawdogging’? The unlikely travel trend taking over social media
Sofia Geraghty
By Sofia Geraghty


Most Australians, who are no strangers to long-haul flights, will know that inflight entertainment and food and drink options are just about the only things that make 20 hours+ of flying bearable.

However, these inflight saviors are now under threat due to an unusual trend sweeping social media called ‘rawdogging’.

Before you get too alarmed, ‘rawdogging’ doesn’t refer to anything that will end in pregnancy. The trend, which is taking over TikTok, is when a flyer tries to survive a flight as long as possible without stimulus such as entertainment or snacks.

Inflight entertainment and drink has been a saviour to many

As TikToker @screenshothq explains “There’s a new travel trend on social media and it’s all about the art of embracing doing nothing.”

“Rawdogging means getting through a trip with no phone, no book, no laptop, no music, essentially no fun.”

A UK-based DJ and influencer @oiwudini uploaded a video of himself partaking in the trend, saying “just rawdogged a 7hr flight (new personal best), no headphones, no movie, no water, nothing, incredible. The power of my mind knows no bounds.”

His followers were impressed with the effort with one saying “This is actually an insane dopamine detox” and another adding “I’m gonna do this to heal my attention span.”

Others sought to trump his effort. “I took a 15hr flight last year, no movies, no music, no sleep, just flight map, never went to toilet or even stood up to let someone past,” a user said.

The clip has gained nearly 14 million views.

@oiwudini

🧘🏻‍♂️ #fyp

♬ The Only Thing They Fear Is You – De8ed

Another user, Andrew Smirniotis @andydoesfit survived the 13-hour flight from Sydney to Dubai doing nothing other than looking at the inflight map. His efforts did not impress one follower, however, who said “someone did 17 hours with just safety manual.”

The trend comes at a time when dopamine detoxes are growing in popularity. Considered largely to be a backlash against the “always on” culture of social media, a dopamine detox involves someone abstaining from stimulus that provide pleasure such as TV, social media and gaming to train the brain away from instant gratification.

A dopamine detox is a backlash against excessive screen time

In the travel industry, the trend has led to an interest in retreats that involve denying one or more senses. A ‘silent retreat’ which (you guessed it) involves not speaking for days is one of the most well known examples of this. However, darkness retreats are also growing in popularity. British boxer Anthony Joshua recently revealed that he spent five days alone in a dark room at The Sky Cave Dark Retreat in Oregon ahead of his fight with the Swedish boxer Otto Wallin.

Reflecting on the experience, Joshua said: “It was completely pitch black, no sound, no communication with anyone. All your senses get shut down.

“I didn’t realise how tired I was. Just sat from Monday to Friday. It was phenomenal, a good experience and much needed.

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