01 / Print storytelling
Destination Canada
Editorial-style destination advertorials from my commissioned portfolio.
View selected samples ↗International travel journalism
A world of stories.
I’m Mark Sissons, a Canadian travel journalist reporting on wildlife, adventure, culture and remarkable places to stay. My assignments have taken me across all seven continents, with a camera alongside my notebook.
Selected
published bylines
published bylines
Selected journalism
Stories worth telling.
Thirty published features across five subjects. Choose a category to explore six stories.
Original stories
Room for a longer story.
Self-published reporting and substantial features shared here in full.
Peru · Seva Canada · Original feature
A Billion Reasons to See
How a small Vancouver charity is opening a new front in the global fight against preventable and treatable vision loss, including blindness.
The first thing Hilda did the morning after surgery was sit outside her house in the Peruvian Amazon and look at her grandchildren. She had not seen their faces clearly in ten years. They had been growing up at the blurred edges of her vision, and now here they were: their features settling into shapes she knew. Everything was still a little out of focus, the operated eye adjusting, but it was there. She looked at her husband and confirmed what she had always known. He was handsome.
Commissioned content
Stories that bring places to life.
Alongside my journalism, I create commissioned articles, destination guides and web content for tourism organizations, travel brands and their agencies. My background in digital copywriting and content strategy brings that storytelling to print and online audiences.
02 / Destination guides
Destination BC
A guide introducing readers to backcountry skiing in British Columbia.
Read the guide ↗03 / Digital content
Writing for the journey
Web copy, content strategy and campaign writing informed by years of experience in travel and digital communications.
Discuss your project ↗Selected client and agency projects include Destination Canada, Destination BC, Tourism Alberta, Parks Canada, Fresh Tracks Canada and SkiBig3.
Photography from the field
Another way into the story.
I photograph the places and people I report on. These images are part of that work, from the mountains of Patagonia to the landscapes of AlUla and Antarctica.
Show all 78 photographsShow fewer photographs
A collection from my travels and reporting. Select a photograph to view it larger. Photographs © Mark Sissons.
About Mark
A reporter’s curiosity.
A traveller’s perspective.
I’m Mark Sissons, a Canadian travel journalist whose work ranges from wildlife conservation and backcountry skiing to art, culture, family travel and luxury hospitality.
Since 2005, assignments have taken me across all seven continents. I’ve tracked snow leopards in Ladakh, documented elephant conservation in Zimbabwe, kayaked off Antarctica and explored cities through their artists, food and neighbourhoods.
My work has appeared in National Geographic, Robb Report, The Globe and Mail, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, NUVO, EXPLORE, MONTECRISTO, Elle Canada, the Vancouver Sun and other publications.
I photograph the people and places I report on, using images to give readers another way into the story.
Explore selected journalism ↗Browse the published archive ↗
Beyond the byline
Words that work in many settings.
Alongside travel journalism, I have an extensive background in digital copywriting, editing and content strategy, including my work as a Senior UX Writer at TELUS.
My agency experience includes DDB Canada, Cossette Communications, Powershifter Media, Engine Digital and Wasserman & Partners. That experience informs the commissioned work I create for tourism organizations and travel brands.
See commissioned content ↗Conservation
Water for Hwange
In 2016, I co-founded Water for Hwange with Zimbabwe’s Imvelo Safari Lodges to support sustainable water resources for wildlife and neighbouring communities in Hwange National Park.
The project received an Adventure Travel Conservation Fund grant in 2018. I also co-led its first donor safari with Wildland Adventures in 2019.
Read Heartbeat of Hwange ↗Work with me
Have a story in mind?
For editorial assignments, commissioned travel content or a conversation about a project, get in touch.
mark@marksissons.com ↗For editorsTell me about the publication, subject, scope and timing, or get in touch to discuss story ideas.
For tourism organizations & travel brandsShare the brief, audience, deliverables and timeline. I’d be glad to discuss how I can help.
Based in Vancouver. Available for international assignments.
Send an inquiry
A few details to start the conversation.
