Former Gators soccer player McKenzie Barney speaks at the Reitz Union Auditorium last month during a visit to discuss her latest adventure. (Photo: Courtesy of Barney's Instagram page)
Former Gators Soccer Player McKenzie Barney Shares Cycling Journey in Documentary
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 | General, Soccer
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By: Alexander Dauterive, FloridaGators.com Student Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — McKenzie Barney went from leading the Southeastern Conference in goals to cycling the world.
Barney's journey started at the University of Florida, where she received a degree in telecommunications in 2012 and became a filmmaker. Barney returned to campus on Oct. 23 to show her documentary "Cycling the World" in the Reitz Union Auditorium.
An audience that included UF soccer players, cycling enthusiasts, students, professors and familiar faces — former Gators soccer coach Becky Burleigh introduced Barney — turned out for the event presented by Great Storytellers.
I was unaware of Barney but attended the presentation to write about Barney's visit to campus. Watching her documentary was so inspiring that it is easy to understand why she won an Emmy for her work.
In addition to her films, McKenzie has produced work for National Geographic and interviewed high-profile people such as rock stars, politicians and athletes. Despite all those experiences, Barney said her story truly began when she eventually realized that she was telling other people's stories before she knew her own.
To discover her story, Barney started shedding the layers of her identity by going thru-hiking. Thru-hiking is long-distance end-to-end hiking, during which you are in the woods for months. Thru-hiking showed McKenzie that she wanted to understand more about the world and see all the cultures on this planet.
That's when her journey switched to cycling.
Barney decided to cycle across Vietnam in less than 30 days, going from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi. When she made the decision, Barney didn't have any formal training.
McKenzie Barney during her Gators soccer career from 2008-12. (File photo)
She used to cycle around campus at the University of Florida, but traveling by bike across a foreign country is from another world.
Barney played soccer for the Gators from 2008 to 2012, and she said her athletic background helped her become physically and mentally fit for her adventures after college.
To complete the task, Barney flew into Ho Chi Minh with just the clothes on her back, bought a used mountain bike and started to cycle north. The trek took her 22 days, and impressively, she completed the journey solo.
Barney was not ready to put away her used bike.
She embarked on another adventure after Vietnam, cycling from Istanbul to Amsterdam. She said she wanted to make the trip to prove that she could handle her next big cycle, a cross-continent trip from Cairo, Egypt, down to Cape Town, South Africa.
Unlike her previous journeys, the trip from Cairo to Cape Town included her partner, Jim, and would be her only time not going solo.
Barney wanted to share her journey in Africa with friends and family and concluded that the best way to do so was through film.
She encountered a few obstacles and challenges, and Barney said, "At the end of the day, you can only control the controllables."
This quote stuck with me because everyone faces challenges in life, and it's essential to have a good mindset to overcome obstacles and keep moving forward.
Barney started filming her cycling adventure and continued filming until she finished cycling around the globe. After Africa, Barney cycled across New Zealand, Australia and South America.
By the end of her journey, she had cycled on five continents and in 28 countries, totaling 18,000 miles. She has taken all her clips from her past three years of cycling the world to create a documentary telling her story.
The documentary takes you along for the trip and reveals some of what Barney went through on her unique journey.
Most importantly, it allowed her to finally tell her story, which is why she started this adventure.
Barney returned to UF with advice for those in attendance: "pursue the unknown as much as possible."
I and countless others know that graduating college and figuring out what's next can be daunting. When you're passionate about something or have a calling, take a page from Barney's playbook and don't be afraid to explore the unknown.
