REI has just released “The Path Ahead” Report, a look at our future in the outdoors. Will be choose to embrace the outdoors as part of our daily lives or are we destined to become an ‘indoor’ species. Are we going to ‘Artificial Reality’ indoors or ‘Real Reality’ outdoors?

Here is the opening section of the report:

“If you spend time in nature, odds are you’ll see the importance of the outdoors. You’ll feel the calming power of simply being outside, the connection to something bigger. And it’s not surprising, because we used to spend our entire lives there. But unfortunately, today many of us are disconnected from our natural habitat.

The average American spends 95 percent of their life indoors. As a result, we are becoming an indoor species, which comes with consequences. Our health and well-being may suffer. And the less we value our outdoor spaces, the less likely we are to protect them. It’s a slippery slope.
The long march indoors is not inevitable. We’re at a crossroads. Our decisions now will dictate our future. The Path Ahead captures trends that affect the future of life outdoors. It doesn’t present all the answers. It’s designed to provoke discussion by exploring nine ‘brutal truths’ juxtaposed with nine ‘beautiful possibilities,’.

Together, they paint a picture of what could happen if we stay inside as a species, or #OptOutside. It’s time to choose.”