There’s a new travel trend called “rawdogging”, which has nothing to do with that term’s original slang meaning, “sex without a condom”, but rather taking a flight and not using anything to distract yourself. No phone, no music, not even a book or anything to read other than the flight-tracker and, I guess, if you’re in a window seat, the view of the clouds and sky and maybe even the ground below if it’s visible. Maybe there are travel rawdoggers who eschew even that, preferring to shut the window and sit in their own thoughts. Some won’t even have food or water—and they make a point of doing this on long, international flights of ten or eleven hours.
At first it sounded miserable to me but then I started thinking about the value of simply sitting with one’s thoughts for a while. A Conde Nast Traveler article sums it up pretty much the same way I would: “Is ‘rawdogging’ just a place-specific term for meditation? Yes.” Meditation is a healthy practice, though abstaining from even water for that many hours isn’t. I understand the appeal of rawdogging, at least on a short flight, or for just part of a long flight. I’ve been on long flights where I spent long stretches just looking out the window—I like the window seat—and let my thoughts drift through the endless azure. I was doing it, as far as I know, before it was cool, before there were whole internet communities devoted to documenting and sharing their experiences.
Which is the real problem. If you want to tune out, turn off, drop in—well, maybe that last one would violate the rules—for your own peace of mind that’s great. I think more of us should do it at least occasionally. I understand that it’s a reaction to the way we’re constantly inundated with information and a feeling that we have to stay busy, stay productive, all the time. But doesn’t documenting it, turning it into a performance that you’re planning to share for the attention, undermine the value of meditating? It seems like the whole point should be to disengage. Do it for yourself, for your own mental well-being, to try relaxing with your own thoughts.
And if you’re really serious about only watching the flight tracker can I have the window seat?
I love this post, Chris, especially since I was thinking about this when I was traveling the last two weeks. I always get a window seat and stare out the window when I’m flying. On the flight out to Calgary, which had a layover in Toronto, I pretty much just sat with my thoughts the whole way. I wonder how just being has recently turned into yet another exploit to brag about on social media. Thanks for giving us more to think about, no matter where we are.
Ann Koplow recently posted…Day 4262: Hopes and Dreams
Like you, Ann, I always get a window seat because I like to watch the sky go by, even when we’re too high to see the ground, and even when it’s too dark to really see anything outside. But you’re right, just sitting and watching does seem like another exploit people can put on social media. I hope most people are like you and just enjoying traveling for its own sake, though I’m also grateful you’ve shared some of your experiences.