About
Marissa loves storytelling and she’s been working on her craft ever since she wrote her first screenplay at age seven. She joined the Paddling Mag editorial team in 2019, at first focusing on digital content but soon helping with print publications as well. Once a proponent of single carry portaging and long days on the water getting to the next campsite, nowadays she’s content introducing her little one to the wonders of canoe tripping.
Experience
Marissa has an honors bachelor of arts degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, having majored in English and minored in film studies. While at university, she served in various writing and editor roles in the news department at the student newspaper, The Cord. Since then, she’s spent 10 years writing and editing digital content with a focus on travel, outdoor adventure and of course paddling.
She spent a summer working at a canoe and kayak outfitter as a guide, shuttle driver and office administrator. In addition to improving her paddling skills there, she learned how to tell if a client was fibbing about their own paddling skills (and how to rescue them after they flipped), how to properly tie down a boat on a trailer (she only lost one canoe all summer; sometimes you learn what to do by first learning what not to do), and how to improvise when trips don’t go as planned.
Marissa went on her first multiday canoe trip as a young adult, fell in love, and slowly built up her backcountry skills on trips increasing in difficulty. After years of canoe trips consisting of single carrying portages and spending long days on the water, she’s now transitioned to a slower pace introducing her toddler to the wonders of canoe tripping. Now trips are all about figuring out what gear is necessary for maximum fun and safety with a kid, enlisting the help of grandparents, and finding joy in the little discoveries at camp versus the big ones that happen deep in the wilderness.
Fun Fact
Marissa is a novice adventure racer and enjoys participating in events in Ontario, Canada, with her dad as her teammate and chief navigator.
