We sill have a couple more weeks to go before we drop the curtain on another year, but it is never too early to start looking ahead to 2016. With that in mind, Outside magazine has published an interesting article, in which the editors look into their crystal ball and make some bold predictions on the trends that will leave their mark next year.Some of these predictions are fairly easy to make. For instance, Outside says Cuba will live up to the hype amongst travelers, and fitness trackers will continue to grow in popularity. Other items on the list are bit more of a stretch. I'm not sure that anyone will be able to run a marathon from their living room for example, and while bike-packing is on the rise, it won't supplant backpacking just yet. Outside also says that 2016 will be the year that private space travel finally comes into its own, but considering how long such a thing has been promised, I'll believe it when I see it.
Still, it is fun to take a peek over the horizon and think about the people, places, and things we'll be watching closely next year. The Olympics will take place in Rio, which will bring us a host of new athletes to admire, and there has definitely been a trend towards outdoor adventure showing up in popular media – including movies, books, and even virtual reality. All of those options will give us something to keep us occupied when we're not pursuing adventures of our own.
I won't go out on a limb and make too many predictions. I'll leave that to the experts at Outside. But I will say that I expect things to finally get back to normal on Everest after two seasons of disruptions. I also expect that there will be some bold new adventures to report on, many coming from sources we don't even know about yet, and I'm sure we'll see even better gear and equipment to get us through our personal explorations of the world around us. In short, 2016 will be like most other years. Lets all embrace it and make the most of it.
