Cyann giving it her best on the flight (Image: Cyann Fielding/ Mirror)
Viral ‘rawdogging’ videos have taken the internet by storm, featuring individuals enduring lengthy flights without indulging in any form of entertainment, food, water or conversation. The most exciting option available to those who rawdog is simply staring at the in-flight map.
Cyann Fielding, a Mirror journalist who “always likes a moment of reflection and enjoys meditation”, decided to take on this challenge during her flight from London Gatwick to Canada, stating that the concept was fairly straightforward – “You stare into the abyss”. However, Cyann opted to slightly tweak the rules. She would eat, drink and use the loo if necessary and wouldn’t snub anyone who tried to engage her in conversation, reports the Mirror.
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The reporter clarified: “Especially if it was the flight steward asking if I wanted a vegetarian meal, which yes, I very much did. No rudeness or fasting for me then, just zero mental stimulation.”
With the flight scheduled for around 1 pm on a Sunday afternoon – not too late that she’d be overly tired, and not too early that her mind would wander off worrying about whether she had a Canadian plug adapter, it seemed the perfect time to just sit, stare and ponder.
Immediately, she realised she was mistaken.
Yearning for her lunch and having spotted on the screen of the passenger next to her that Wonka was one of the available films, she instantly regretted her decision to experiment with this “seemingly stupid trend”. However, she persevered with the stillness and staring.
Even before departure, fellow journalists travelling with Cyann were casting peculiar glances her way.
She “didn’t blame them – the idea of being left alone to your thoughts does seem a questionable pastime, and one I am sure not many regularly partake in”.
After overcoming the potential embarrassment of being observed, she quickly began relishing the opportunity to hear the diverse languages being spoken around her.
The exasperated sighs from a pair of cabin crew members, along with the captain’s monotonous delivery that implied ‘this marks the 1000th occasion I’ve delivered this announcement’, represent sounds many passengers have consistently encountered during flights yet never truly contemplated.
“When left with just your thoughts, there is nothing else to wonder about after the inner-lives of these aviation employees,” the writer remarked.
This occupied approximately 15 minutes. Nevertheless, once airborne amongst the clouds she started feeling restless and tedious.
Cyann tried redirecting her attention to a novel she’d recently finished and mentally compose a critique of it, but she grew exasperated that she was unable to note down any of her thoughts.
The delivery of her meal caused the subsequent half hour to fly past.
And following her dinner, she spent the ensuing 45 minutes in a condition of concentrated attention, repeatedly examining the flight tracker.
“My mind was blank. I couldn’t think of anything to think about, which only added to my irritation with the stupid ‘rawdogging’ trend,” the reporter lamented. On the verge of tears from pure tedium, she considered abandoning her efforts prematurely.
“Perhaps I’m not as hardcore as I thought, or as close to the cutting cultural edge as those who made the trend go viral on TikTok,” she mused.
Spearheading this contemplative movement is Australian music producer Torren Foot, who garnered 10 million views chronicling his transpacific voyage from LA to Melbourne.
Leeds-based producer and DJ Wudini earned acclaim for enduring what he described as an “insane dopamine detox” during a seven-hour flight without any form of entertainment.
“The power of my mind knows no bounds,” he boldly proclaimed.
Nevertheless, digital culture specialist Josh Stuart has questioned the genuine psychological advantages of rawdogging, suggesting it may represent more of a masculine posturing exercise.
“This is the ice bath of the sky,” he told ABC.
“It’s like a feat of strength. It’s being portrayed online as the ultimate act of tapping into your ‘locked-in’ mentality.”
Reluctant to fall prey to such toxic masculinity, yet determined to achieve a meaningful benchmark, Cyann resolved to discover whether she could reach Iceland whilst rawdogging.
When the miniature aircraft symbol on the screen before her reached mid-Iceland, she abandoned her mission.
With a relieved exhale, she promptly turned on Wonka and reflected on why countless individuals profess to relish rawdogging.
She mused: “Whilst I can sit on the tube and let my thoughts run wild, or stare out of a train window for hours on end, there is something about doing nothing on a plane that I found considerably harder.”
Perhaps it was the excitement of going on holiday being brutally crushed by watching a plane icon move a millimetre every five minutes, or just her eagerness to watch Timothy Chalamet, but the torturous experience of ‘rawdogging’ is one Cyann confessed she will never subject herself to again.
She concluded her challenge stating: “Kudos to the people that have managed 8+ hour flights doing it – either you are lying or harbouring some huge secret.”