I started kayaking over twenty years ago. I had just finished playing college soccer and was looking for my next pursuit. I saw a kayak outside a store, went inside, asked how much, and walked out with a life vest, paddle, and boat. I drove to my local river, figured out how to put on the gear, took off downstream, and have followed waters ever since.
I was instantly hooked. Chasing rivers provided all the adventure I was looking for in my young life. I remember reading a book called Whitewater Classics to learn about the people and places of paddling. I remember admiring the commitment, passion, and dedication to running rivers of the paddlers in the book, and I knew that one day, I wanted to be in those same pages. I wanted to add my own unique story to the larger community.
Paddling has brought me to remote and rugged places around the world, and deep, meaningful friendships with people and rivers. A close friend recently said, “It’s just different when you have a relationship with someone on the water.” I became so curious about the paddling journey that I dedicated four years of my life to studying the narratives of whitewater paddlers to uncover the common themes about the reasons people paddle.
In my research, I found that regardless of a paddler’s entry point into the sport, over time, paddlers continue to paddle because of their relationships—their desire to steward and protect the places we love, and our ability to share the experience with others. Paddling is powerful. It is deep medicine for the soul, and looking back, it is hard to imagine where my life would be without it.
These days, most of my time on the water is dedicated to my kids—bringing them along and sharing the water with them. They all love to paddle in their own way. My son Stokes is ten, and we recently had the chance to run the Little River in North Carolina. There’s a waterfall there called Hooker Falls. We put on in the pouring rain and made our way downstream to the lip of the waterfall. He got out of his boat to scout his line, and I reminded him that it was up to him, but I was confident that he could do it. He thought about it, then got into his boat and said, “Let’s go.”
We peeled out of the eddy, and as we drifted toward the edge, he said, “What if I get scared?” I smiled and said, “Keep it straight, and paddle hard.” This is the gift of paddling. There is never a shortage of lessons to be learned, so long as we are willing to put our blades in the water for one more stroke. When I landed off the drop, I turned around to see him flying through the air behind me, eyes wide, with a perfect boof. He gave a hearty yell of triumph, and we shared a long hug in the afternoon mist.
Thank you to Brett for contributing “Following Waters” to the ACA Story Project. Your story captures the spirit of paddling with depth, heart, and honesty — and reminds us how rivers shape not just our adventures, but our values, our families, and the way we move through the world.
About the Author
Brett Mayer is the Public Policy Director for the American Canoe Association and has been an ACA member since 2012. He holds a Master of Arts in Adventure Education from Prescott College, where he spent four years conducting a phenomenological study exploring why people paddle. Through his professional work, research, and personal journeys on the water, Brett is dedicated to protecting paddling spaces and deepening our collective understanding of why they matter.