Thoughts, Plans, Dreams for the New Year

Dusk, New Year's Day

Midwinter. The fading sun slowly returning. The hours of darkness no longer encroaching on the light of day. A turning point. Perhaps the most significant of the year. This is why we have Christmas and New Year celebrations. This is why there are resolutions, plans, hopes. The depths of winter have passed. The journey to spring and new life has begun. The names and numbers we give to years, months, days are significant because we say they are but what matter is the changing light.

It is appropriate, then, to look at the future at this time, to think about possibilities, to feel excited. And to look back at the changes of the year gone, at where the ideas of a year ago went. In my case there were some surprises – positive and negative, some successes, some failures. I guess that’s true for many, perhaps most, people.

A plan for new books was the exciting development of 2023. That hasn’t gone far yet, but the next few months should see progress, hopefully fairly rapid. I also intend to write more for this blog and to do more (and longer) videos for my YouTube channel. There may be changes to the blog too. 

There is much that is up in the air. I will still be writing for The Great Outdoors, both the print magazine and the website, though how much is not yet certain.

And of course there are plans for long walks. My plans for the Cape Wrath Trail last autumn dwindled to five days in the Cairngorms for various reasons so I’m planning on it for this year. I’m thinking of a longer walk too, probably in Europe. Maybe the Alps, maybe the Pyrenees, maybe Scandinavia. Many ideas!

I also intend to be more active in promoting rewilding and conservation. The nature and climate crises are serious and urgent. I’ll be writing more about them and continuing to promote activists and organisations on social media.

2024 looks exciting and challenging. I hope it is!