Rawdogging 101: Why Everyone’s Talking About It (And All You Secretly Want To Know)

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Everybody has a different strategy for avoiding boredom on a flight. Some turn to in-flight entertainment, relying on the plane’s TVs for the latest releases. Meanwhile, others play video games or read a book. Some may also play card games, listen to music, or use the time to free up space on their phones before their trip.

However, the latest trend sweeping the internet is to rawdog flights and other forms of long-haul travel. Especially popular on TikTok and among celebrities and sports stars, rawdogging requires travelers to travel with zero distractions. Sounds crazy, right? In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about rawdogging.

What is Rawdogging?

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Let’s start by looking at what rawdogging is in more detail. As we mentioned in the introduction, rawdogging is one of the latest trends to sweep the internet, especially TikTok. Particularly popular among men, it requires travelers to sit through a long-haul flight without entertainment, food, or drink.

That means you can’t use your phone, watch movies, listen to music, or play games to prevent boredom when flying from one destination to another. As such, you must sit there doing nothing for the entire flight, no matter how long it is, a bit like Idris Elba for large parts of the Apple TV series ‘Hijacked.’ If you last the entire flight, you can claim bragging rights.

Where Does Rawdogging Come From?

Many people have assumed the idea of rawdogging is linked to Idris Elba’s character Sam Nelson in the Apple TV series ‘Hijacked,’ in which he struggles to cope on a flight without his phone. However, the viral trend started with a 26-year-old man from London who goes by the name Westy.

In May 2024, Westy posted a video to his TikTok account @WestWasHere explaining how he’d just completed a seven-hour trip from London to Miami without any entertainment. He went the entire flight without his mobile phone, in-flight entertainment, food, and drink, only allowing himself to look at the map on his TV screen. Westy’s video went viral, and now thousands of men across the globe are taking on the rawdogging challenge.

@westwashere
Anyone else bareback flights? #flying #planes #fyp
♬ BAND4BAND – Central Cee & Lil Baby

Why Do People Rawdog Flights?

If you’re anything like us, the thought of sitting on a plane for several hours without entertainment sounds like one of our worst nightmares. Flights are often boring even when we have plenty of things to entertain us, and we certainly can’t go without our in-flight snacks. This begs the question: why are people rawdogging flights?

The simple answer to that question is to complete the challenge. Most people who complete the rawdogging challenge do so to see how long they can travel without distractions. Other people see it as a way to push their mind to its limits and switch off from the world of technology. Of course, some people also enjoy the prospect of being the world’s best flight rawdogger.

Who Can Rawdog a Flight?

Reports in the media and on TikTok suggest that the rawdogging trend is particularly popular with men. A recent BBC report revealed that there is an increasing number of young, athletic men taking up the rawdogging challenge to prove their resilience and self-control. However, this challenge isn’t reserved for men.

Ultimately, anybody who wants to take on the rawdogging challenge and attempt to last an entire flight without distractions can, regardless of age, sex, or gender. It is another question whether they want to complete the challenge because it isn’t the most enticing or inspiring viral challenge, especially if you get bored quickly on flights.

Is Rawdogging a Flight Safe?

Generally speaking, rawdogging a flight in the most basic way is a safe thing to do. You won’t come to harm if you avoid using your phone, listening to music, or watching a movie during a flight. However, in typical viral challenge fashion, more extreme versions of this challenge do pose a risk.

For example, if you follow the extreme version of the rawdogging challenge that requires travelers to stay seated and avoid food and drink, you could suffer profound health implications. The main concerns raised in this instance are dehydration and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), two things you don’t want to experience. Therefore, you should only follow the simple version of the challenge if you’re going to do it.

Is Rawdogging a Good Idea?

While the simplest version of the rawdogging challenge is safe, whether it’s a good idea or not is another question, the answer of which will vary depending on who you ask. For example, I think this idea is crazy. I can’t understand why anyone deliberately wants to sit bored on a plane for several hours.

However, if you ask one of the many celebrities or influencers who regularly take raw dog flights, they’d likely tell you something else. For example, they usually find the entire experience refreshing, with many finding that it forces the mind to reset, allows them to focus, and helps them develop good ideas. Maybe you can try it first and tell us what you think.

How Do You Do the Rawdog Challenge?

12 Things Not To Do on a Plane Eat Food After it Falls on Your Tray Table — © Pitcher / Adobe Stock

As far as viral challenges go, doing the rawdogging challenge on a plane is one of the easiest and most affordable. However, we’d say it’s also arguably the most boring. The only thing you need to rawdog a flight is yourself because the rules of the challenge are to sit and not do anything for the duration of the flight.

Depending on which version of the challenge you decide to follow, there are a handful of things you can and can’t do. If you follow the most straightforward and safest version, you can allow yourself to have something to eat, drink water, and go to the restroom. However, you can’t use your mobile phone, the TV, music, a book, or games.

The Rawdogging Simulator

If you’re keen to try rawdogging but don’t have any vacations or work trips booked, don’t panic; there is a dedicated rawdogging simulator on the internet that allows you to experience the feeling from the comfort of your home. The Rawdog Simulator is the perfect tool to use if you want to practice your rawdogging skills.

The simulator recreates the flying experience by giving you a boarding pass, checking you into your flight, and sitting you down in your seat. It then uses the camera on your device to track your eyes. If your eyes move away from the screen for the duration of the flight, which is over 18 hours in real-time, you fail the challenge.

What Do You Get Out of the Rawdogging Challenge?

For us, this is where the rawdogging challenge gets confusing because we’d personally expect tremendous rewards for sitting on a flight bored for several hours or more. However, there aren’t any benefits of doing the rawdogging challenge that stands out. Even the guy responsible for the viral trend says most people do it to look “cool.”

We don’t know about you, but that doesn’t justify sitting staring at a screen and going without food and drink for multiple hours. Of course, many people also complete the challenge to have bragging rights online. However, some people also complete the challenge because they believe it promotes mindfulness, patience, stillness, and focus.

What Can You Do During a Rawdogging Flight?

While many influencers and celebrities will tell you what you can and can’t do when rawdogging a flight, rawdogging isn’t an official event or challenge, so you can ultimately bend the so-called rules however you like to suit you. For example, you can let yourself go to the toilet if needed and allow yourself to look at the map on the TV.

Many passengers also allow themselves to talk to other passengers so they don’t go completely crazy during the flight. In most cases, it’s also perfectly okay to pack some comforts, such as a travel pillow, so you don’t feel too uncomfortable during the experience. We also highly recommend allowing yourself food and drink during the flight.

What Is the Rawdogging Record?

Up to now, there isn’t an official rawdogging record. Therefore, you don’t have a specific target to beat should you want to try and complete the rawdogging challenge. However, a quick search for rawdogging on TikTok will reveal many people who’ve completed the challenge over long periods of time.

Before we searched through TikTok, we assumed seven or eight hours would be the longest time people have done the rawdogging challenge, but how wrong we were. We found TikTokers who have completed the rawdogging challenge on flights that lasted 10 or 11 hours. Worse yet, we found one person who rawdogged a flight for over 15 hours. Safe to say, we won’t be trying to beat that.

Should You Rawdog Your Next Flight?

Admittedly, we’re not in a position to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. However, we don’t recommend doing the rawdogging challenge unless you follow its very simplest and safest form. Going without food, drink, and the toilet on a long-haul flight is never a good idea. You can easily fall ill or suffer potentially life-changing effects.

However, generally speaking, going without technology on a flight for several hours is acceptable. You should be fine if you don’t deprive yourself of the necessities. From a personal standpoint, we don’t recommend doing the rawdogging challenge because we couldn’t think of anything more boring to do on a flight.