A psychologist has revealed what ‘rawdogging’ a flight – or traveling without any distractions – says about your personality and why the ‘silent meditation retreat in the sky’ is a space for people to ruminate on their issues.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula, based in Los Angeles, is a clinical psychologist and author of the ‘transformative guide’ titled It’s Not You, in which she details emotional abuse.
Having previously lifted the lid on the various ways to spot a narcissist, the 59-year-old has now shared her insights on the latest travel trend that sees passengers passing time in a bizarre manner.
While speaking to DailyMail.com, Dr. Ramani admitted that the TikTok trend was a form of ‘aesthetic’ flying as she shared why rawdogging could leave you feeling depleted.
She explained that someone who rawdogs could be a ‘mental introspector’ – a person who has been ‘trained’ to ‘zone out’ from a young age.
A psychologist has revealed what ‘rawdogging’ a flight – or traveling without any distractions – says about your personality (stock image)
The practice known as ‘rawdogging’ or sometimes ‘barebacking,’ means consuming no music, movies, or any other form of entertainment except for the basic flight maps or flight data screens on your seatback.
Taking it to greater extremes, some will also claim to forgo food and drink for the duration of the journey.
While speaking to DailyMail.com, the psychologist dished on who is most likely to rawdog and why they do it.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula, 59, is a clinical psychologist who spoke to DailyMail.com about the travel trend
The psychologist told DailyMail.com: ‘The why is actually quite unclear – once upon a time it is possible that lots of people rawdogged flights. There were no options for entertainment – just one movie that played from an overhead screen – like it or not, and if you fell asleep you missed it. You could bring a book or a magazine – but that was that (my mother, grandmother, and former mother-in-law were all world class rawdoggers I can now see – I didn’t know there was a name for it).’
However, she noted that younger generations may doing it for other reasons, specifically when they were contemplating a problem in their life.
‘I would speculate that the why of someone rawdogging may be: poor preparation, exhaustion, some other emotional reason (something on a person’s mind so they can’t concentrate), content to just take in what is going on around them, may be an inexperienced flyer and taking it all in, may be a nervous flyer, may just be a person ultra into mindfulness, may be someone using the time in flight when they can’t be reached to just clear their mind, maybe someone who is just able to quietly be (someone will someday need to do a survey of rawdoggers).
‘Nowadays with it being a TikTok trend people may be doing it to post about it -and that’s a different beast – and it’s sort of aesthetic – seat upright, no food, no drink, no entertainment, no reading – it’s like a silent meditation retreat in the sky.’
‘The no drink and no food is actually kind of smart – if you have a window or middle seat and with the seat belt sign on and off – not having to use the bathroom is heaven sent,’ she added.
She noted that in addition to members of the older generation rawdogging flights, those who were swamped with problems tended to lay back and avoid doing anything while traveling.
The practice known as ‘rawdogging,’ or sometimes ‘barebacking’ flights, means consuming no music, movies, or any other form of entertainment
Dr. Ramani explained: ‘I would say maybe older adults who flew at a time when rawdogging was the norm, maybe people flying basic economy or other no frills ways of flying when you can’t bring anything on the plane with you, people who may be exhausted and overwhelmed from their lives, people who are good at or tend toward zoning out in general.’
And sitting there without doing a thing during a flight has a lot to do with your personality, according to the expert.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘Some of the most likely reasons may be – tired, depleted, mental introspector, could be someone who over a lifetime was in situations (for example repeatedly forced to go to long church services) that almost got them trained to sit there and zone out, without doing something else, someone who may be in a new situation where they are taking a lot in.
‘The folks who are doing the performative rawdogging to say they did it and post about it – may just be people who do things to post about them – I think that is different than “pure” nonperformative rawdogging.’
And you may wonder what someone thinks about on a long-haul flight, well according to Dr. Ramani, it could be a number of things.
However, it’s more likely that someone is overthinking many of the issues in their life.
The psychologist explained: ‘They could be thinking about anything from absolutely nothing, to ruminating over stuff in their lives, to noticing what is going on in the flight.
‘Perhaps some are meditating or engaged in some kind of mental exercise or breathing.’
But, the bizarre trend may even be helpful to one’s mental state as it can benefit your mind.
‘It could be a sort of nifty built-in you got nothing else to do mindfulness mind clearing experience,’ Dr. Ramani told DailyMail.com.
‘The white noise part really adds to that, and it can be frustrating sometimes to “do” other things like work on a laptop with someone’s seat back in your lap – so rawdogging can allow you to really do some quiet contemplation and not just distract yourself away from your thoughts or try to do impossible things like work in a cramped window seat.’
And while meditating in the sky may sound like the perfect way to pass time, those who don’t practice mindfulness while rawdogging can be doing more harm than good.
In another TikTok, creator @cookestraveltok reveals how her mom is a fan of rawdogging
Dr. Ramani added: ‘Some folks may be procrastinating, for example a busy student who is traveling could be getting homework or assignments done, or a business traveler could get ahead of some work so perhaps they could get to bed once they get to a destination.
‘If a person is going through a difficult time and they keep ruminating about it with all that rawdogged time and it is leaving them feeling distracted and worse, the raw dogging may be a place where that rumination just goes, which can ultimately be quite uncomfortable.’
The psychologist also revealed that while rawdogging may just now be trending on social media, it has long been practiced – adding that once upon a time, women were its most likely candidates.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘I have to say that the folks I know who rawdogged were mostly women – and I wonder for the women I know if it was just a time of contemplation for them – they had all been mothers and homemakers in a time when nobody cared about what they felt or said.
‘[It was] a time [for them] to just sit down, think, not think, but with no expectation of caregiving or doing something – could be the origin of rawdogging for some.
‘Some folks are better at just “being” and at waiting patiently – and those are the people who seem to be built for rawdogging.’
Last week, dozens of clips of social media users rawdogging flights took to TikTok to share their experiences.
Many clips showed travelers with blank expressions staring into space. Meanwhile, overlaid captions brag about them completing the challenge.
Another TikToker, who goes by @westwashere, uploaded several TikToks showing himself ‘barebacking.’
He challenged other people on the web to follow suit as he revealed how he ‘survived’ long-haul flights only watching the map and windspeed.
Creator @cookestraveltok revealed that her mom was also a fan of rawdogging.
Alongside a clip of her parent rawdogging a flight she said: ‘My mom’s beige flag is that she rawdogs every flight, no matter how long.
‘This is her on a nine-hour flight. No iPad. No headphones. No book. At least she’s comfy! Go Girl.’
Many people on the web were stunned and claimed they could never partake in the challenge.
