…the term “rawdogging” had this meaning, in a travel sense:
A new travel phenomenon has swept TikTok in the form of ‘rawdogging,’ which means consuming no form of entertainment during a flight – except for the basic maps or data shown on the seatback screen.
Taking it to greater extremes, some will also claim to forgo food and drink for the duration of the journey.
Many videos show travelers with blank expressions as they stare into space, while overlaid captions brag about them completing the challenge.
However, a team of travel experts from the site Netflights have now warned that the practice can have many negative impacts.
And here I thought “rawdogging” on a flight meant some kind of unprotected sexual congress with a flight attendant. Shows what I know.
Anyway, while I can sort of see the experts’ [coff coff] point, I don’t buy into their argument wholeheartedly. I quite like to sit and gaze into space with a “blank expression”; in my day, that was called “quiet contemplation”, and on short-haul flights I do it all the time, not needing constant stimulation to be happy, or at least passably happy. Transoceanic flights are a different animal, however, but a decent couple of “disposable” books — ones that can be tossed without regret after completion — usually fit the bill admirably. And I loathe airline movies because they’ve mostly been bowdlerized Because Of Teh Kiddies.
Also forget forgoing food and drink on a long flight; that’s just plain stupidity, spelling as it does hunger and dehydration. This is why God invented biltong, my children; and dehydration in the pressurized cabin is no frigging joke, especially if you are at risk of a gout attack (ask me how I know this).
Speaking of biltong: I see that our supply thereof has fallen to a dangerously low level, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the kitchen. I may be feeling poorly, but sometimes ya just gotta.
