The Long Run #1: Summer Life

why can’t zoomers just ride a plane?

Jul 07, 2024

Welcome to The Long Run, my new monthly wellness check-in letter. I’m still playing around with this little pivot and learning what will stick as I go, so hold on while I figure myself out.

As I began all my newsletters for months with the “news,” I figured I’d begin similarly here, except instead of giving you five excerpts, I’d focus on one wellness-adjacent trend and discuss it.

Today, I’d like to draw our collective attention to the trend of young men depriving themselves of entertainment, food, beverages, and even restrooms on long-haul flights.

First: Yes, they’re calling it “rawdogging flights.” Second: If you are on TikTok or Instagram, you’ve likely seen some variation of the above post recently.

These posts always make me laugh a little because of the whole air of nonchalant mental toughness they work to project.

People who choose to forgo amenities during their flights call it meditative to listen to plane white noise and only look at the seat in front of them. They also say it’s a challenge in stoicism. And, that it helps them feel extra rested upon arrival. So, this seems the natural evolution for the youth of a culture that worshipped Andrew Huberman.

In an article about the trend, participants expressed they noticed a lot of surprise from their female viewership. Asked to explain why, one interviewee said “I don't think men have the same ‘treat culture’ that women do… a long flight, for women, is the perfect venue to organize an entire itinerary of treats, and I do think men tend to be more stoic and weird about the spaces in which they allow themselves to receive pleasure.”

Perhaps. But I also think a fair amount of the population, regardless of gender, just wants to block out the fundamentally unnatural, uncomfortable environment that air travel creates.

I love the flight map and could hypothetically be content to just watch my little plane traverse the map for seven hours. What I don’t love is the person I become on flights. Usually tired and a little overwhelmed, I’m never my most patient self in this setting. Life on a plane is, as far as I’m concerned, nasty, brutish, and short. Everything I do on a flight is less about giving myself a treat and more about distracting myself from the state of nature I’ve found myself in.

I guess this breed of men have a higher tolerance for the things that get my goat real fast (I’m thinking about you, crying triplets on my flight from Berlin in May). I simply think that being subjected to everyone else’s weirdness is infinitely less meditative than popping in ear plugs and putting an eye mask on. Living life raw has its place for sure, but on flights I’m firmly in Camp DIY Sensory Deprivation Tank.

Interested to know how you fly. Message me if you have any weird travel habits/to tell me what you think about rawdogging flights 📲

Now for my little diary entry. This week I’m calling this week’s Summer Life.

I’ve had a pretty solid week. The 4th of July is the best holiday unless you’re wrong or not American, so I was really happy to got to celebrate by watching fireworks on the lake.

I discovered this was not a great year for sports if you’re a fan of any of the teams I am. On Monday I watched Belgium’s final Euro Cup appearance which was a bummer. But I got to sit in the sun and eat a beet salad and drink a beer while watching the sad defeat, so I guess there was a good consolation prize.

On Wednesday I moved upstate for the next little stretch of time. I like looking at new settings as an opportunity to create new habits. The two I’m focused on this week are (a) not using my phone in my room at nighttime and (b) daily morning movement.

Task A has proven markedly more challenging than I anticipated. Getting into the habit of scrolling before bed (and once I wake up) is one I sorely regret because of how difficult I find it to kick. My solution is to replace phone with a book (Tove Jansson’s Summer Book), a substitute which is definitely easier on my brain, but also puts me to bed way faster than my phone does. I guess that’s a good thing, but I also wish my brain would stay awake long enough to make it through more than just a couple pages.

Task B, conversely, I enjoy. I’ve decided that it doesn’t have to be any real workout, it can just be something simple that tunes me into my body and how I’m feeling that day. Adding the structure of a daily goal keeps me from procrastinating my stretching to the point that I forget to do it entirely, which happens unfortunately often.

On the topic of movement, there was not one day this week when I wanted to run. The air has just felt so heavy and even on the days when my body felt good, I could only crank out a short run before getting tired. My motivation this week was meager. In fact, one day I was entirely dissuaded from running because I liked my blowout too much. Another day, I saw Eloïse during my run and the prospect of the short jog back from Greenpoint was daunting enough for me to hop on a Citi Bike home.

Unfortunately, this bout coincided with the cancellation of my gym membership (since I won’t be in the city consistently enough to enjoy it) so my usual alternative, climbing, was not an option. On Friday though, I realized that now that I’m living on the lake, paddleboarding is a new low-intensity pastime for me.

Don’t let my whining fool you. For as much of a drag as I found exercising to be this week, what I can say is that it has settled my moods. I had a couple days feeling horribly grumpy at absolutely nothing but getting outside to run or paddle infused me with some needed vitality.

paddleboarding, stretching on the roof, me shocked at how hot my run was.

Downstate last weekend after a run, I stumbled upon an exciting breakfast treat at Bakeri: sourdough bagels. Were I braver I’d have asked for some of their starter, but since I’m not I began making a mother on Thursday using this recipe. The first one I tried making using a NYTimes Cooking recipe failed, but so far this one seems leagues more promising. So, updates on my sourdough starter forthcoming. For now, I’ll tell you that and it lives in a clear jar that’s too small and feeding it reminds me of Kenneth from The Amazing World of Gumball.

Anyway.

I made a really simple Chilean sea bass ceviche the other day. I got fish at Whole Foods, cut it up nice and small, salted it and poured lemon juice over the pieces. Then, I added cucumber, tomato, and avocado, topped with cilantro, and served with Wasa crispbread.

I’ve had quite the sweet tooth this week. In honor of my favorite holiday, I made a treat: Atlantic Beach Pie. Though I am not always a big citrus dessert girl, this lime pie with a saltine crust is just so fun and easy to make that I really love it. This was also an excellent opportunity to do my favorite thing in the world: whip cream. Of course, summer is also ice cream season so I’ve been enjoying vanilla soft serve with a cherry dip accordingly.

atlantic beach pie making, ceviche, elite breakfast

Peaches and cherries have been recent go-tos for me. What can I say but I love stone fruit months? They’ve been happy additions to my breakfast plates, which have also featured honey & raisin GG crispbreads, togarashi smoked salmon, and Lively Run goat cheese.

Upstate summertime is really magical, it’s like living in an alternate universe where time moves at another rhythm and life feels calmer. As much as I loathe the heat when I’m in New York City with no reprieve from it, spending time out in the sun this week has done my soul good. So has breathing air that smells green. Simple pastimes like running through the woods and trips to the Amish farm stands to buy perfect eggs and pretty calla lilies all wind up being special too.

Early July is peak firefly season, so at evening time outside it’s fun to sit by the fire and watch the bugs glow in the field and listen to the eerie sound of foxes playing in the woods.