ABOUT
Many years, miles and countries travelled by foot and bicycle, usually with a camera in hand and a story waiting to be told.
ADVENTURER FILMMAKER FARMER & ARTIST
Wild Yatri is the creation of Mac Barney. An idea born while she was hiking in the Himalayas, Mac envisioned a hub for global adventure stories and handmade art collected while traveling. “Yatri” means traveller in Sanskrit. The wild is in all of us.
From spending months at a time hiking the length of New Zealand, Nepal, Chile and the Pacific Crest Trail, to diving with tiger sharks in Cocos Island Costa Rica for National Geographic, to cycling the length of Vietnam solo, to getting lost in the maze of Moroccan markets, to learning the art of yoga from Himalayan gurus in India, Mac is an adventurer at heart and always looking to explore the unknown.
A deep affinity for nature gravitated Mac toward regenerative farming and agroecology. She has experience on permaculture, biodynamic, and organic farm projects in Malaysia, Australia, California and Florida.
As Wild Yatri, Mac aims to illustrate our interconnection with each other and our natural world. The best way she knows how to do this is by exploring our Earth, telling stories, and creating art.
adventurer
The world’s newest thru hike in New Zealand was Mac’s tipping point toward a life of long distance, human powered voyages and international travel. Since then she has traveled to six continents, trekked iconic long distance hikes from Chile to Nepal to the Pacific Crest Trail, and biked the length of Vietnam. Disillusioned with consumerist society, Mac ventured into van life for a year and continues to maintain a “no fixed address” lifestyle, preferring a minimalist lifestyle. She seeks out human-powered, long distance, wilderness adventures yearly. So far this has led her to the niche worlds of thru-hiking and adventure cycling, most of which these days find her beside her Kiwi partner and adventure co-pilot Jim. She prefers a tent over a house, campfire over television, and stories over stuff.
storyteller
In her non-linear journey, Mac has travelled all over the planet telling a kaleidoscope of stories on a variety of platforms.
Wild Yatri founder, writer, artist, film production consultant
Farm Manager on Florida organic star fruit farm
Freelance video producer working with clients Amazon, Qualcomm
Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Comfort Theory, global production company specializing in wildlife, adventure and travel with clients National Geographic, Outside Television, Columbia and more
Content and Community Manager at Moment Inc. in Seattle
Producer at RGTV in New York City with clients Fox Sports and Madison Square Garden Network, filmed interviews with icons such as Bill Clinton, Jon Bon Jovi, Mike Tyson, Mia Hamm, Laird Hamilton and more
Experiential Marketing Lead for Sony Electronics campaign through Pello Agency in Southern California
Production Assistant in Iceland on Landrover Surf Expedition with renowned adventure photographers Chad Copeland, Lucas Gilman, Keith Ladzinski and Chris Burkard
Film Production Coordinator at 72andSunny in LA
Global Entertainment Marketing Intern at Nike World HQ in Oregon
Majored in Telecommunications Production at the University of Florida while playing on the Women's Soccer team and 3-year captain
artist
While traveling around the globe, Mac began collecting materials along her voyages. She found herself drawn to local handmade textiles, and had the idea to sew them on the back of vintage denim jackets. Wild Yatri’s art gives life to an upcycled thread, supports small-scale artisans and handmade workshops around the globe, and provides each owner with a one-of-a-kind, wearable piece of art that symbolizes global connection. All of Wild Yatri fabrics are handpicked and collected by Mac while she is traveling, adventuring, hiking, and cycling around the planet. She then brings them back to her studio and combines them with vintage materials to create a one-of-a-kind wearable piece of art. Each piece has its own story of how the fabric was collected.
meet the creator
Hi, Mac here, the creator of Wild Yatri, and frankly, I've never quite bonded with biographical descriptions. When society places a box around labels and identities, I believe it has every intention to be shattered and evolve into its own unique rhapsody. Anything that demands condensing one’s entire existence into a rigid box of words/labels/identities goes against every fiber woven into my being. But, if you're looking for that sort of thing, I can hesitantly attest that awkwardly contorted third-person introductions or presumptuous publications have attempted to categorize me as a human-powered adventurer (aka thru hiker and adventure cyclist), world traveler, writer, artist, yogi, farmer, documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur and athlete. But in my disillusioned state and quest to deconstruct the rat race of conventionality in pursuit of a more malleable human experience, here's who I really am: I'm a creative, curious creature; a work-in-progress earthling with a fascination for learning, growing and connecting; a girl who likes to explore the outer and inner worlds. I find more importance in why I am, rather than what I am. These passions have led me on a non-linear path that always circles back to story, which is why I decided to start this blog. I believe in examining everything, harmonizing with nature, and navigating our world with an open mind. My hope with these written chronicles is to explore the depths of interconnectedness on our planet through human powered adventure travel and art.
This is my hymn for human powered journeys.
This is my ode to the art of adventure travel.
This is my blog: Wild Yatri.