Sit back, relax and stare at the map

A viral TikTok trend challenges travellers to endure long flights with no entertainment, no headphones, no books, just a flight map. Illustration by C Y Gopinath using AI

You are sitting, strapped to a chair, helpless. You can only make minimal movements. If you try to stand up, a sharp voice on a loudspeaker will tell you to sit down at once. You cannot stretch your legs, you can't fold them under you. You cannot lean back, you cannot bend forward, and there is no question of going to sleep. For one, it is terribly cold. For two, you don't dare close your eyes, for God knows what they will do to you then.

You can cry for help, but there is no one to hear you. You are invisible.

No human being should be in such a position. You are suspended 30,000 feet above the planet. You will be shaken violently without warning like a rag doll for minutes on end. Just as you are getting your breath back, you will be dropped, falling several thousand feet in seconds.

You will endure these extreme punishments for at least seven hours, but it has been known to go as high as 12 or 13 hours.

The words above describe a normal international flight in Economy Class in today's world. It is one of the few situations in your life when your existence is in the hands of forces you neither understand nor control. Your only two options are right above you: a button to switch on a study light and another to get the stewardess's attention. She may or may not give it.

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What is the best way to get through this ordeal? No need to guess. FlightPath3D, which provides in-flight maps for over 90 airlines, reported that about 68 per cent of today's passengers open the map on the seat-back screens facing them. About 20 per cent stare at the map throughout the flight.

Delta Air Lines says that 45 per cent of its passengers do this during flights, making it the top content in its in-flight entertainment package. They find it more interesting than Hollywood, Bollywood, the latest Emmy-winning movies, Taylor Swift's newest album, and the latest Superman release.

We know human beings were born batshit crazy and are capable of casually doing lunatic things for no discernible reason. But what kind of person would choose to spend seven hours or more staring at an animated map that shows a cartoon plane inching around the planet?

And why?

It began, we are told, in 2024 as a viral TikTok trend dubbed ‘raw-dogging', slang for doing something with no buffers or comforts. It challenged travellers to endure long flights with no entertainment, no headphones, no books, just a flight map. If you succeeded, you were an aviation ninja, with perfect mastery over mind and body.

Young men, many with sculpted gym bodies, filmed themselves sitting like Buddhas in their seats, using supreme mind power to stare at the flight tracker map. Extreme practitioners skipped eating, drinking water, and even peeing, pushing their mortal bodies to the limit.

Their sagas went global on TikTok, while scientists and philosophers debated their behaviour, asking if they were heroes or fools. One video was sub-titled: "My mind knows no limits. I am operating in a different
spiritual realm."

In a world where everything is over-interpreted and seen as more than it is, psychologists talked about the phenomenon like it was cutting-edge detox. Using more words than necessary, business psychologist Danielle Haig said it represented "a collective yearning for balance as people seek to reclaim their mental space and foster a deeper connection with their inner selves".

"They're idiots," says Dr Gill Jenkins, a general practitioner who doubles as a medical escort in air ambulance work. "They're risking dehydration and deep vein thrombosis."

Nick Kosir, known as the Dancing Weatherman on a TV channel, was one of the early flyers to out themselves and regret it. He said, "It was awesome: I just sat there, stared straight ahead, and didn't do anything for like five hours." He posted a video of himself staring at a map and counting up to 1 million twice.

His manager said, "Dude, that's a serial killer trait."

The truth is, staring at the flight path is exactly what I have always done on long flights. To understand why, think of me as a frightened child enduring a nightmarish journey through a scary jungle in a car without headlights, and asking from time to time, "Are we there yet?"

My mind churns with incremental data. Somewhere below us is Mt Ararat. Wasn't that where they found Noah's Ark? I always thought Bosporus was spelled like phosphorus, with an h. The plane just moved another millimetre. We dropped 3870 feet - that was scary. Could it be an engine failure? No, you idiot, that was clear air turbulence. This is not your swan song. We just entered Slovenian air-space. Melania Trump was born here. The temperature in London is 13°. The pubs will be closed when I get there.

We stare at the flight path because we're counting the minutes till we land. We're scared of flying.

That's it in a nutshell.

You can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopi@gmail.com
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.