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I hadn't heard to much about Thailand before I arrived. I knew about the cheap food, beautiful beaches, and crowded cities. I even had one friend who told me that you could rent a motorcycle explore the mountainous regions of northern Thailand. Of course, he followed this tip with all the normal warnings we are trained to say and think. "Thailand is one of the most dangerous places to ride a motorcycle. Don't forget to be careful around the border areas. Definitely don't go without lots of insurance." Within minutes I had gone from feeling excited about an adventure to thinking that maybe I had better leave that one up to someone else. Someone who knew about motorcycles and borders. Someone who could speak other languages and drive on other sides of the road. There was a tinge of disappointment within me that was quickly covered by the comfort of making the safe call. You can imagine my shock when a few months later I was being handed the keys to a motorbike in Chaing Mai, Thailand. The sounds of the incessant traffic screamed outside. I had seen how this traffic worked on the way here. Through taxi windows I had winced several times thinking we were going to crash only to see a scooter or tuk-tuk scurry away at the last moment. My plan was to pretend I was riding a bicycle and stay in the "slow lane" as much as possible. With a skyrocketing heart rate and a few missed turns I realized this was a bad plan. You see, the herds of scooters and motorcycles typically use this sliver of pavement to pass the cars. This left my scooter piled with me, my wife and our bags during in the scooter stream like a boulder in whitewater. Fortunately, the straight city streets gave way to more rural roads that began to curve as they emptied themselves of traffic. We relaxed and began to enjoy ourselves. As the mountains crept into view and we climbed up then I started thinking about how intimidated I was of this region before I had even seen it. I felt excited again and wondered what other adventures I had avoided due to false perceptions. A couple days later we found ourselves in a small village near the border of Myanmar called Ban Rak Thai. This area seems to have always been a home for displaced people. Chinese refugees fled to this valley generations upon generations ago. They created beautiful terraced tea plantations that make you wonder if it's really 2020. Today, refugees from Myanmar are making the same journey to this little valley that promises a chance to live in safety. My wife and I were at the crossroads of this village when I decided to try going left. Instantly, I heard a friendly voice call out, "Hello friend, don't go that way. Soldiers that way." We had been traveling long enough that any words that I could understand were worth listening to, but these sounded particularly important. We stopped and spoke to the friendly lady who watches out for travelers getting to close to Myanmar. She told us all about the local history and gossip like only a mother or a school teacher can. She was both and get stories flowed easy. It was sometime during this conversation that I realized I had come all the way here to touch the very thing I feared. The closer a came to these fears the more they evaporated until they left, at least for today.