Life at Bicycle Speed

Jerry Kopack [00:00:02]:
Welcome to Bike Life, a podcast from the Warmshowers Foundation. Here we celebrate our global community of touring cyclists and hosts who make life on the road unforgettable. Through stories, insights, and shared experiences, we explore the connections that fuel every journey. Whether you're pedaling across countries or welcoming travelers into your home, you're part of a movement rooted in generosity and adventure. Discover more and join the community@warmshowers.org now let's hit the road together. Hey, everyone. This is Jerry Kopeck, the host of Bike Life, coming to you from the Rocky Mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. Today, I'm joined by Rachel Yassin, an American cyclist who started touring because she was hungry for a different way of moving through the world.

Jerry Kopack [00:00:54]:
Since riding from Denmark to Croatia in 2016, she's logged more than 55,000 kilometers across Europe, southeast Asia, and Australia. Now based in Thailand, she and her partner regularly host touring cyclists in Chiang Mai, a practice that extends her belief in trust, generosity, and the human connection that makes bike travel so meaningful. Hey, Rachel. Welcome to Bike Life.

Rachel Yassin [00:01:18]:
Hi, Jerry.

Jerry Kopack [00:01:19]:
Now, I am really curious. What's your origin story? How did you find your way to Thailand?

Rachel Yassin [00:01:25]:
Oh, that's an interesting one. You know, I came to Thailand for the first time in 2017, and somehow I just kept making my way back here. So I try. I've traveled all around Thailand. I have cycled from the top to the bottom and all around and after. It's a lot. I feel like it's a long story, but what I would say is, after Covid, we were. We had been.

Rachel Yassin [00:01:57]:
My partner and I have been cycling for about three years straight, living on the road, and we were ready for just a short break, and we took a pause in Thailand, and now we've been kind of based here on and off since then.

Jerry Kopack [00:02:15]:
That is. That's a familiar story for me because I was traveling for about two years, and I had just come through Northeast India, the Darjeeling, Nagaland, Assam, those places. And it was winter, and I had been subsisting on essentially, rice and beans and way too many instant noodles. And then I found my way somehow into Chiang Mai, and it was just an explosion of the senses. The food, the people, the culture, and, yeah, the food. And honestly, it was everything that I needed at that moment. And I took a pause there as well for probably a month, and I very nearly didn't leave myself. So what was it about Chiang Mai that just hooked you?

Rachel Yassin [00:03:01]:
There's so many things. First of all, I would say the community is so interesting. There's so many interesting people that are coming through here all the time. And there's just like, I just remember the first time I came here and there was free yoga in the park and there are these amazing teachers teaching yoga in the park and you're just connecting with all these really interesting people. And I just, for example, started this storytelling circle because I really believe that everyone has a story to tell and I posted it on Facebook and all these interesting people come. So the community part is huge. Big. The cycling is amazing because I live at the base of Doi Sutap, which is the second largest mountain, I think, don't quote me on this in Thailand.

Rachel Yassin [00:03:55]:
And every day I, oh, nearly every day I try and cycle up the mountain and it's. That part of it is incredible. I can also just literally leave out my door and go on a bicycle tour for one, two days or two, three weeks in the most gorgeous national parks. Just little small villages. There's always somewhere like I can get a place for like $10 to stay. That's adorable. In the middle of, you know, the countryside. And so, yeah, and the food.

Rachel Yassin [00:04:30]:
I know you mentioned the food. And then I have to say the medical. I got, I, I had a terrible bicycle crash in Australia in 2020 and I knocked my teeth out. My forefront teeth. Yeah, it was really bad. And, and, and immediately I said, well, I, I'm, I'm just going to fly to Chiang Mai because I have a dentist there. I kind of had like slowly developed to have all my medical stuff in, in Chiang Mai. And I came here for three weeks to get my teeth fixed up and recover because I had burns all over my body.

Rachel Yassin [00:05:08]:
It was a bad accident and it was just such a healing place to be. On top of that, I just got such good medical care. So yeah, for all those reasons and like just so many more, you're just, there's so much charm and surprise all the time. Just finding different parks and different little cafes and different. There's, there's just constant surprise. And I feel like I could probably cycle around this area for years and not see everything.

Jerry Kopack [00:05:39]:
That is wonderful. And I started laughing, but not really laughing because a friend of mine who also cycled through Thailand and had a similar dental story where he had knocked his top four front teeth out and he happened to be going through Chiang Mai, Thailand, and he realized that they have amazing dental care. And yeah, it was top notch quality for a fraction of what it would have cost him back in the US

Rachel Yassin [00:06:09]:
and you can, if you need medical Care and, like, just want to also come on holiday to Thailand. Like, it will cover the difference in the price between, like the U.S. for example, in Thailand, it'll cover your whole holiday.

Jerry Kopack [00:06:23]:
Yes, it is hilarious. Now, you had mentioned cycling and the route that I had done through Thailand, you probably know this one is the Mae Hong Son. And I think they call it like Route 1864, which is interesting because somehow somebody counted. There are 1,864 curves in that route. Have you ever heard that?

Rachel Yassin [00:06:47]:
I have heard it. I didn't remember that number. But it's really ironic because just last week I came back from that loop.

Jerry Kopack [00:06:54]:
Yeah.

Rachel Yassin [00:06:55]:
And it just did it.

Jerry Kopack [00:06:56]:
It's a crusher. Right. So some of the roads. The roads are meticulously paved, but they're 10, 12, 14, sometimes 16% grade. Climb to the top of a ridge and then just plunge down the other side and then do it again. And then do it again.

Rachel Yassin [00:07:13]:
Exactly, exactly.

Jerry Kopack [00:07:15]:
And I remember I was riding a heavy loaded mountain bike. I just come through the mountains in India, and it was definitely not the right bike choice to be doing that loop. And I had come through during a time when it was really hot. And I'm not a heat person, let's just say I remember one time I leaned my bicycle against the side of a 711 because I went inside to get some air conditioning and some soy milk. When I came back out and my grips had started to melt on my bike, it's like, okay. And so it wasn't the first time that I threw out a thumb and took a ride in the back of the car to the next village because it nearly broke me. But it sounds like you're better accustomed to this, so I'm sure you handle it just fine.

Rachel Yassin [00:08:04]:
No, I mean, it was hard for me, but it was amazing. It was just such a good challenge. I was out there by myself self too, because my partner had some business stuff to take care of back at home. And it was. Yeah, it was. It was amazing. But I. But I will say because I use the clip in shoes in the pedal, and there.

Rachel Yassin [00:08:28]:
There's like, there's no way that you can clip out when you're going like super steep and then be. And even think to be able to like start up again, especially because the ones I have right now are like so slippery and so there is never a chance. Like sometimes in the past I would be like, oh, maybe I'll just walk this little hill. But there's no chance in there because it was so steep and you didn't it could be going on for, like, kilometers, and then you're thinking, like, okay, but I'm not going to walk my bike on this. I just have to keep going. And you're going at that standstill pace, you know, where you're just, like, barely moving, but plugging along. Yeah, it was a hard one, but just wonderfully challenging.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:11]:
I am so happy to hear that. As a local, you also think that it is just brutally steep. So I was thinking, like, well, maybe I'm just kind of soft. But, like, hearing you from a local saying, like, okay, that makes you feel a little bit better. So thank you for that.

Rachel Yassin [00:09:27]:
Absolutely.

Jerry Kopack [00:09:29]:
So I want to talk about your. Your origin story as a cyclist. You've said that you didn't start bike touring because you're an athlete. You started because you're hungry for a different way of moving through the. What does that mean? And was there something missing in your life at that time or what? What started this?

Rachel Yassin [00:09:48]:
Yeah, well, in. I had always loved bicycling, and I used it as my transportation, like, as maybe starting in university. That was just how I got around. It was never much for a car. So I love my bicycle, but I had never really thought about bicycle touring until around 2015, when I went to walk the Camino de Santiago, and I met this guy who. Who had just started bicycling around the world. And then he became my partner. And then gradually, after, like, a couple years, I thought, wait, I want to do this, too.

Rachel Yassin [00:10:28]:
We had ridden from Denmark to Croatia, and I just loved it so much that I was just like, I want to make this my life. And we already had a ticket booked to Bangkok, and so we thought, all right, well, we'll officially start cycling around the world from here.

Jerry Kopack [00:10:45]:
Amazing. And I know that you said that during that trip that something had clicked. Do you remember that moment when you realize that this is it? This is what I want to do?

Rachel Yassin [00:10:58]:
Do you mean on the Camino or.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:01]:
No, along that. Like, Denmark to Croatia.

Rachel Yassin [00:11:03]:
Denmark to Croatia.

Jerry Kopack [00:11:04]:
Yeah, that one. Was there a moment that just kind of.

Rachel Yassin [00:11:08]:
Yeah. What did I. Okay. You know, I. I think it's the whole thing where you are. Where when I'm on my bicycle, I just feel free, and all that I need are the things that I'm carrying in my panniers on the back of my bike. And it is, to me, just the most liberating feeling to be moving. Like, I think it's the best way to show up in these.

Rachel Yassin [00:11:34]:
In these little villages, and you're just automatically welcome because you're on bicycle. And something in me just felt more settled because I'm not one that always feels so comfortable having a base, but I also wasn't like comfortable just being like someone who just travels around and takes buses and whatever. Like that also wasn't comfortable to me. And so once I was on the bicycle and I could move through space on the bicycle, I just felt free. And there wasn't a particular moment except that I think I remember my partner saying, if you love, I think I said, I am the happiest I have ever been when I'm on my bicycle. And I think he said, well, then why don't we just always do this? And I said, yep, I'm in.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:25]:
I love that just warms my heart. And so I have, I have a similar story. My partner and I, we went to. It was. I had done a bunch of years of bike touring and she hadn't at the time. And so our first trip together was northern India, so Ladakh, the Kashmir region. And that's, that's pretty intense. I'd been there before, so I was used to.

Jerry Kopack [00:12:48]:
And I took for granted that this was a very intense experience. And the first two weeks, I remember her sometimes breaking down, saying, like, I shouldn't be here. This is too much for me. But. But by the following and finishing three to four weeks, she said, I don't ever want to leave. This is what I want to do. And so she had had that moment where it's like, okay, I got this. And this is a beautiful way to experience the world and life.

Rachel Yassin [00:13:15]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Jerry Kopack [00:13:17]:
I love this phrase that you had said. And it kind of goes along with what you're saying right now is you talked about the intimacy of arriving somewhere at bicycle speed. Talk a little more about that.

Rachel Yassin [00:13:29]:
Yeah, thanks for bringing that up because there is something about it. It feels more human paced to me. It feels like I'm moving through space in the way that, that just, it's. It's a feeling, it's a way of moving through the world that feels just right in my body. I don't even know if I have any more words about it. But it's. I mean, it' the kind of thing where you're, you're going slow enough that, for example, like in Myanmar or Indonesia, people can just like pull up and ask for selfies or talk to you or. And, and you're also moving slow enough so, so that human connection, but you're also moving slow enough to be able to see what's around you.

Rachel Yassin [00:14:22]:
This Is very different than being, like, in a car, where you're just zooming through and you. You just get. You get to just take it all in, whether it's like. Like just a stunning landscape or giant open sky or even if, like, you're in the woods and all you have are, like, the trees around you and you can see the little animals moving or, you know, the. In Australia, I always used to joke that I was on the Roadkill tour because there was so much roadkill. Kangaroos, and, you know, whatever you might find along the road. So it's. Yeah, it's just.

Rachel Yassin [00:15:03]:
I like that it slows me down enough to be able to see what's around me.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:10]:
Yeah. But still a little bit faster than walking the Camino, though, right?

Rachel Yassin [00:15:15]:
Exactly. Yeah, it is. I still love walking, but you can just get the distance that you want to go in a different way on bicycle.

Jerry Kopack [00:15:25]:
Yeah. And I talk about this in prior episodes of the show, where you could take a bus or a truck or a car or whatever and still end up at the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall of China or whatever you're trying to get to. But it's all those stories, those people you meet, those villages along the way that really paint the picture of the experience.

Rachel Yassin [00:15:47]:
Yeah, but you. Yeah, you said it way better than me, 100%. But you're right. But you're right. It's all about these little. I mean, it sounds cheesy, but it's the journey there that makes the difference. And there something for me about showing up on a bus that just feels different in my body, that just. It never feels right.

Rachel Yassin [00:16:09]:
It never feels right. And when I pull up on my bicycle, there's just this little girl inside of me that is just dancing inside because it just. It feels so good just to come up. I mean, like, we were in. Now I'm jumping around. But when we were in Australia, it was in the middle of COVID and we arrived in Uluru, which is a really famous rock in the middle of Australia, and there were bare. There was barely anyone there because it. Because it was Covid.

Rachel Yassin [00:16:40]:
But the idea of riding my bicycle through the outback to the middle of absolutely nowhere and just pulling up on my bicycle, that's just one example of hundreds of places that I've been. It's incredible.

Jerry Kopack [00:16:58]:
Yeah. I feel like if there was ever a good time to maybe go bicycle touring, it probably was during COVID And it seems like that really launched a lot of the interest in bicycle touring, because people's like, well, I don't want to be cooped up anymore, but I know I really can't go stay with people, so I'm just going to go ride my bike and go camp. And it just spawned. It didn't. I mean, bike packing was already a thing for a while, but this sort of really cemented it and put it on the map.

Rachel Yassin [00:17:25]:
Yeah, we were so lucky. We were in Australia all through Covid from we got in the day they closed the borders to foreigners, literally got into Australia. And I was there for about a year and a half and just stayed away from the hot spot. And then there was no Covid in the entire part rest of the country. I think we cycled like 22,000km around Australia. And it was such an opportunity because there were really no foreigners there. And so it was very quiet, which I love. Felt like we had the country to ourselves.

Jerry Kopack [00:18:06]:
Now I'm curious. Did you plan this trip knowing that Covid was going to happen, the board's going to close, or it's just like, well, we're here and this just happened because it seems like out of all the countries I know that New Zealand was. Was very lightly impacted. I think Australia was too, probably due to their remote proximity. But it seems like of all the places you could have been, like Australia could have been one of the best for that situation.

Rachel Yassin [00:18:30]:
Oh, 100% it was. We had started in 2018 from Bangkok and then went through Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, all the Indonesian islands, all the 15 Indonesian islands to Timor. And then. And then we got into Australia and that was just our route. It was just pure luck.

Jerry Kopack [00:18:52]:
Did you go through the Outback? Because I've. I was talking to a woman a few few episodes ago who bike toured through the outback. And it's pretty remote out there. Like you're not going to see a lot of people maybe for days at a time.

Rachel Yassin [00:19:05]:
Yeah, we were in the outback, I would say 90% of the time. Wow. We went on four incredible dirt tracks that were like between hundred and a thousand kilometers where you're just absolutely out there in the middle of nowhere and then. Plus just. Yeah, just cross. I mean, anywhere inland, like from. From 20 km inland is outback. No one, no one's living out there.

Rachel Yassin [00:19:32]:
And you. Sometimes we would carry like, I don't know, 15 liters of water. Enough food for when we are on the plenty highway, which isn't a highway. It's. It's a dirt track. We. We carried food for 14 days. What? Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:19:49]:
How? Were you carrying a trailer or pulling a trailer?

Rachel Yassin [00:19:53]:
No, no, no, we were just carrying dried food.

Jerry Kopack [00:19:56]:
Wow.

Rachel Yassin [00:19:57]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:19:58]:
What kind of, what kind of stuff were you carrying for 14 days? Because obviously it has to be compact enough. It has to be dehydrated because of the weight.

Rachel Yassin [00:20:05]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:20:06]:
To offset the 14 liters of water that you're carrying.

Rachel Yassin [00:20:10]:
Yeah, that was like more in the, towards the beginning. Ish. Part of the trip. So we were carrying. We had bought dried camping food, the expensive kind where it's like, you know, $12 for a bag. But then we eventually found that we, that we each had like our own little favorite food that was much easier to make. There was this rice that I loved that I was getting that, you know, I could just add water to and then let it sit for five minutes. And then we were really creative in what we could add to our meals.

Rachel Yassin [00:20:44]:
So we had different spices and be like, should it be Mexican or Indian night tonight? And yeah, my partner really started that one. And then I found like this dried, this dried meat that I could add to it. So we were creative, stuff like that. So we were making that for dinner and then for lunch, I think I was carrying some gluten free bread and I can't remember what I was putting on it. It's incredible when I think back that we had 14 days to carry food for because like we are huge eaters. Huge. I eat so much food, I can't remember. I, I love to snack on chips.

Rachel Yassin [00:21:29]:
So I suspect that I figured out how to carry chips and they're light, you know. Yeah. Somehow. Somehow we made it.

Jerry Kopack [00:21:38]:
I mean, and that must have really up leveled your game because such a different experience than your trip from Denmark to Croatia, which is whatever, Scandinavia, Western Europe. It's easier.

Rachel Yassin [00:21:52]:
Yeah. And we had also been all the way through Asia, from Bangkok to Timor, but that you just feel supported because the Asians are so friendly. If you have a flat or if you're at the side of the road for 30 seconds, you have a swarm of people around that want to help you. There's always someone, you know, I know that, like Renee and I cycle separately because he's so much faster. So in general I'm by myself, but I, I always feel fine because I know their support. But not in Australia. In Australia, you're. You're in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Rachel Yassin [00:22:29]:
Especially Covid, where there just wasn't as much traffic then. Yeah. I mean, you're, you're really, you're really on your own there.

Jerry Kopack [00:22:39]:
Yeah. And I was going to ask you about that because I know that's something that you had mentioned is that you guys do cycle separately. And I was going to ask kind of what was the origin story? Does it have to do with speed? Or do you just sort of like the time to cycle by yourself, to process and think and zone out, or a little bit of both?

Rachel Yassin [00:22:57]:
Yeah, it's such a good question. We were originally cycling together, and honestly, like, if you look at us, I think people look at me and think I'm strong, but, like, I'm much smaller than him. He's just a big, strong man. Where's he from? Denmark.

Jerry Kopack [00:23:13]:
Okay.

Rachel Yassin [00:23:14]:
He just rides. He's fast. Even on a bad day, he's faster than me.

Jerry Kopack [00:23:19]:
The Danes are large people, that's for sure.

Rachel Yassin [00:23:22]:
Yeah, he's just. He's big and strong and so. And he is not that guy. I know there's guys like this, but he is not that guy that's going to, like, ride slow behind me. It will never happen. He. It would just suck his soul. And so I felt like I was.

Rachel Yassin [00:23:38]:
I was just feeling frustrated because I was, like, trying so hard to keep up. And then one day I just. I thought, well, what if we just met at the end of the day? What do you feel about that? And I think he loved it. He's like, yeah, sure. And so we just started doing it. It worked really well. And we would just kind of pick a spot to meet and at the end of the day, and then he'd usually be waiting for hours for me, but I always showed up. I mean, there were some crazy times where I was like, I think I might be sleeping out in the middle of nowhere because I don't know if I'm going to make it, but I always make it.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:17]:
Really? I was going to ask you, were there any kind of missed connections where he was far ahead and you had a mechanical issue or. I don't know, daylight ran out.

Rachel Yassin [00:24:29]:
There's two times that I can remember. One time in Sumatra. It was the most insane rainstorm. It was just crazy. We were riding up to Bukit Luang where the. Where the orangutans are, and it's just this magical place. But anyway, so on the way there, it's kind of a rough ride. It's uphill.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:52]:
So for people who don't know listening, where is that? What country?

Rachel Yassin [00:24:56]:
Sumatra.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:57]:
Okay, gotcha.

Rachel Yassin [00:24:58]:
Yeah, Sumatra.

Jerry Kopack [00:24:59]:
Sorry.

Rachel Yassin [00:25:00]:
So we. So we. No, no. So it's pouring rain. It's up this, like, pretty steep mountain, and then I'm in the jungle and I'm on a jungle path and I've almost. I Think I had like 2% power on my phone and I get lost and my lights are on, my bicycle are going. Like I don't have enough power on them. And so.

Rachel Yassin [00:25:31]:
And it's going to be dark any moment and I don't know how. And I thought it was a really comforting feeling because I just thought, I'm okay. Like, I mean, I can just pull off to the. It's going to be a hard night if I don't make it out of this jungle. But I mean, I'll figure it out eventually and I'll just find like a dry spot under a tree and sleep. And I don't know, there's some calm that came over me that, okay, but I can do this. I don't know how I managed, but I was able to get. I think it was 9 o' clock at night.

Rachel Yassin [00:26:09]:
I was finally able to figure out how to find the town. And I pulled in.

Jerry Kopack [00:26:14]:
Was Renee freaking out?

Rachel Yassin [00:26:16]:
No, but that's what's so cool about the whole system that we have created. He trusts me. He knows that I'll figure it out. And he doesn't worry now. I don't think he's ever worried.

Jerry Kopack [00:26:27]:
Have you always been resilient like that? Or has this something that you just learned and grown?

Rachel Yassin [00:26:39]:
I think I didn't even know that I could put myself in situations like this to even test my resilience. And that I can. That I'll give to Renee. He's. He's shown me what, what's possible. And usually like so often he'll bring things up. Like, I remember when we had to. We were in Australia and It was like 50 degrees Celsius and we needed to get.

Rachel Yassin [00:27:09]:
We needed to go 284 kilometers in three weeks. And the flies, I don't know if you know about Australia, but the flies are nuts. They're like, you can have maybe like thousands of flies all around you, in your ears, in your nose, in your eyes, like just all over your body and. And so like to cycle through that heat with all those flies and with having to wear the fly net over your head so you're like, already even more hot. And he's. And I suggested that we hitchhike because that sounded very logical to me. And he's like, oh, no, no, no, no. Like, we are not missing a section of this.

Rachel Yassin [00:27:49]:
So he said, what if we ride through the night? And I was like, okay, but I like the night. That's going to be hard, but I like the night. And so, so we did the first night. We rode 144km through the night, starting at 9:00'.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:04]:
Clock.

Rachel Yassin [00:28:06]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:28:09]:
Today's episode is brought to you by bikeflights.com Bikeflights delivers everything you need to ship your bike, whether you're riding a bucket list tour, selling your bike online or moving across the country. Bikeflights easy to pack bike boxes, carbon neutral shipping and pickup to delivery monitoring. Make it simple and save you up to 40%. Visit bikeflights.com/Warmshowers today to book a shipment. Now back to the show. So talk to me about your gear. Did you have, you had lights then, right?

Rachel Yassin [00:28:44]:
Yeah. I'll tell you my gear. I just want to say that was because of him. That was why I wanted to tell the story. Because it was like, I never would have thought to do it because you're asking about my resilience. And then I find out with our gear, I had, yeah, we just had, we had lights. And everyone said, anyone you talk to in Australia will say, do not ride in the night because the kangaroos jump out at you. Even the big trucks don't like to drive in the night.

Rachel Yassin [00:29:16]:
It's just something you don't do. But you know, if you tell Renee you can't do something, that means we're going to do it.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:25]:
So I'm so curious. Did any kangaroos, was there any kangaroo sightings, anything jump out at you? Do you see eyes?

Rachel Yassin [00:29:33]:
Nothing. The biggest issue was there were snakes on the road. On the road. Oh, so. And it was so dark. So you had to kind of be aware of that. Like, really aware of that.

Jerry Kopack [00:29:46]:
Wow, you are, you are tough. Wow. So do you feel like you can pretty much get yourself or will yourself through most situations then?

Rachel Yassin [00:30:00]:
I, I do, I, I do, yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:30:04]:
I mean, was, was there ever a time.

Rachel Yassin [00:30:06]:
It's so funny because if Renee was here, he'd be like, he, he'd be laughing because, I mean, sometimes I'm like a little fussy about it. Like, like, I'll, you know, I might start screaming if I'm in, if I'm in a tough situation. We are in, like the craziest situation. Crossing from Thailand to Myanmar. And I just started screaming.

Jerry Kopack [00:30:25]:
Why? Why?

Rachel Yassin [00:30:26]:
I was just screaming. I'm like, ah, it was so hard. It was so hard. We went 35 km in like 8 hours. Why it was so hard? And then we get to the. Because it was, it was a very steep path that wasn't a dirt, like a dirt road. That was, it wasn't even a road. It was filled with like those Divots kind of thing like where water had gotten in or something like you.

Rachel Yassin [00:30:53]:
It was, it was a lot of walking, the bicycle and it was so steep and it was not stable to be able to ride. It was just, it was so hard. And we. Yeah, but it was one of definitely type two. I mean, it's one of the stories that I always tell because we got to the top and we were going to ride down the mountain and there was a, there was. We hadn't had food all day either because we thought, we thought we'd come across things. And when we got to the top, there was a man there and it was like a little village and he said, you can'. Go, you can't go any further.

Rachel Yassin [00:31:27]:
There's 12 wild elephants on their way. Yeah, like it was just. And, and so we, yeah, he, he drove us down and we did encounter one of the elephants on the road, in the middle of the road. It was crazy. So you asked about my resilience and like, do I feel like I could get through anything? Yeah. And, and I love being on the bicycle because I'm always reminded of it. And the more I' longer tour and the more I put myself into those challenges, the more I'm reminded about how strong I am.

Jerry Kopack [00:32:05]:
Yeah. You know, think about.

Rachel Yassin [00:32:07]:
And that's why, that's why I love it.

Jerry Kopack [00:32:09]:
And so think about the difference between say like a short week long or weekend tour versus an extended tour. Right. Think, talk about the, the, the mental shift that goes on with you.

Rachel Yassin [00:32:21]:
Yeah, that's interesting. Like a one or two day tour is more just about getting out of the city, which I would recommend to anyone. And it's accessible to anybody who's even just like beginning cycling. You just pack up your bag and you can go. But that's just more of like a nice little ride. Then there's like the Mae Hong Song loop, which was like eight days, eight or nine days. And then that is a shorter trip, you know, but, but challenging for sure. The longer kind of tour is you just have the opportunity for more challenges to come your way and your, your whole body can settle into.

Rachel Yassin [00:33:06]:
This is my life. This is how I move around.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:10]:
Right.

Rachel Yassin [00:33:11]:
And I think that, I think that even my, even how comfortable on my bicycle I am, like the more I'm riding in difficult cond. Like different kind of complicated dirt, dirt roads that are a little more technical or I have to like really focus, like the, the more, the more focused I am, the stronger I become, the more kind of integrated I am with my bicycle. And the environment.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:40]:
Yeah, I love that. I want to. If we could, I want to wrap up our conversation today with something I call like little rapid fire travel questions. Okay, sure. Okay.

Rachel Yassin [00:33:56]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Jerry Kopack [00:33:57]:
A couple easy questions. Just top of your head. Don't think too much about it. So first one, hopefully it's an easy one.

Rachel Yassin [00:34:04]:
Okay.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:05]:
Does your bike have a name?

Rachel Yassin [00:34:08]:
Yep.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:09]:
What is it?

Rachel Yassin [00:34:11]:
I know you asked this question. I have a Surly bicycle. Yes. I love my bicycle. I love my bicycle. It's new. I used to have a Vivente, which is an Australian brand, which I liked also. But I love my bicycle.

Rachel Yassin [00:34:27]:
I just call it the Surly. I'm not one for names, so. And I'm. I'm really like a minimalist in that way. So. Yeah, it's my sir. It's my Surly.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:36]:
Which model is it? Just so I know, because I'm a surly guy, too, and I have a karate monkey.

Rachel Yassin [00:34:43]:
I thought you might ask me that. I'm the kind of person who, like, doesn't know about these things. Like, Renee will be like, what kind of car did that? Does so and so. What kind of car? I don't even know what color it is.

Jerry Kopack [00:34:59]:
Fair, Fair. My partner, she's the same way. So that's all good.

Rachel Yassin [00:35:03]:
I don't remember. Oh, my gosh. But it's not the one that you have.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:07]:
Okay.

Rachel Yassin [00:35:08]:
It's not the one that you have. If. But if you tell me a couple other names.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:13]:
Does it have flat bars or curvy drop bars?

Rachel Yassin [00:35:17]:
Yeah, but I had it special built. So there's a guy here in Chiang Mai, and he's the tour cycle. The tour bike mechanic that everybody goes to when they come through here. And so he made it for me. So I got to pick my handlebars.

Jerry Kopack [00:35:33]:
So I want to pause with that. What's his name? Do you. Do you know? Is he. Is he. Is he American?

Rachel Yassin [00:35:42]:
No, no, no, no. I'm embarrassed to say that we call him Triple Cat because that's the name of the bicycle shop. And I can't remember if. Oh, my gosh. I can't remember his name. But he's such a cool guy. In fact, I went to him the other day and he gave me a little lesson on, like, bike mechanics, which was really cool. I feel much more comfortable now.

Jerry Kopack [00:36:05]:
Good, good. I think that's important for people who are setting off on adventures, right. To know how to change the change of flat tire. Right?

Rachel Yassin [00:36:13]:
Absolutely. 100. Yeah. And I want to be really comfortable about, like, I want to travel with it more so I want to be able to, like, take it apart and, like, put it back together in the airport and just feel like. So now I'm like, I'm good with that. Okay.

Jerry Kopack [00:36:27]:
I only brought that up because when I mentioned that I came through Northeast India into Thailand, not only my body was kind of having a breakdown, but my bike was having a breakdown. And I rolled into the first bike shop that I found in Chiang Mai, and on one of the shelves, there was a water bottle with the flag of Colorado on the water bottle. And of course, I recognize that because I live in Colorado. And I said, whose shop is this? And he's this American guy, tall. I forgot what his name is. This was nine years ago. But he's like, yeah, it's my shop. And I said, what's with the Colorado flag and the water bottle? It's like, yeah, I'm from Colorado.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:05]:
I was like, no kidding? So am I. I said, where are you from? He said, boulder. I said, so am I. I said, what part? I said, the south side. Said, so am I. I was like, what street you live on? I told him this. He's like, that is two blocks away from where I used to live. I was like, holy cow.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:21]:
And so I don't know if you believe in fate or destiny or just random chance. I don't know. But it was. It was a really cool connection that definitely solidified me staying in Chiang Mai for a month.

Rachel Yassin [00:37:34]:
So, anyway, that's very cool.

Jerry Kopack [00:37:36]:
That's my Chiang Mai story. Now, I realize this next question is kind of cliche, but I'll ask. You've been a lot of different places, seen a lot of play a lot of different things. Did you have a favorite place that you've been that you travel through?

Rachel Yassin [00:37:53]:
I would say two places for different reasons. I would say there is nothing like the Australian outback. Sleeping out there, watching the moon rise and the moon set and the sunrise and the sunset and the stars, like I've never seen in my life. That, to me. And. And you. I didn't even really need a tent for a lot of the time. I mean, sometimes it was, like, in the winter was freezing, but once it got to be a little bit warmer, you just put your mat down, like, in.

Rachel Yassin [00:38:30]:
In the middle of the landscape, and. And you're sleeping out there under the stars. That, to me, is. Was some of the most amazing moments I've ever had in my life. Then I think southern Myanmar, where it's actually not possible to travel to right now. I was so lucky to Be there during the window from 2011 to 2021, where it was open to foreigners. But other than that, for, like, the past, I think, 75 years, it hasn't been. That was.

Rachel Yassin [00:39:03]:
I. I wanted to do that because it was such a challenge. And I knew that no, no one that I had read about was able to do it because it's so difficult for a lot of different reasons to get through. So I liked the challenge of it, but the people were the friendliest. I really felt like a movie star. And I know that there's a lot of places in Asia where people are just so friendly, but this really took it to the next level. There were. We'd go.

Rachel Yassin [00:39:35]:
You know, it's very rural there, and we go through these little villages, and moms would literally be holding up their babies to see us. They would call. They were calling to the next town to let them know that we were coming, because foreigners are so rare in that area. And it was just. It was charming and beautiful, and so they were living in such a basic, basic way. You know, women just sitting on the ground, preparing their food, and just. Everything about it was really just living off the land like that. It was really touching.

Rachel Yassin [00:40:14]:
So I loved it there.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:15]:
And did that influence you or inspire you to maybe live a more simple life?

Rachel Yassin [00:40:21]:
I am always inspired by a simple life. It's just how I am.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:27]:
I love that. I feel the same.

Rachel Yassin [00:40:29]:
It just confirmed. It just confirmed. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:32]:
Yeah.

Rachel Yassin [00:40:34]:
And the kids are so happy. The kid, like, every. All the little kids are playing outside. Everyone's outside. Everyone just seems really happy. I know life wasn't easy for them, but it was just a nice way.

Jerry Kopack [00:40:47]:
Yeah, completely true. I felt that way in places that I've traveled to. Nepal and India as well, so just really, really heartwarming and touching cultures, for sure. And one of the reasons why I also travel by bike. So thank you for sharing that. Let's see. Favorite landscape. I know you mentioned that you love the outback.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:09]:
Are you a desert person, a mountain person, a jungle person, a coastal? What do you love?

Rachel Yassin [00:41:15]:
You know, I love the coast, but at the end of the day, I'm a mountain. I'm a mountain desert person.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:25]:
Okay.

Rachel Yassin [00:41:25]:
Definitely, yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:41:28]:
Is there a piece of gear that you never leave home with on a tour? Could be a vest or arm warmers or, I don't know, a favorite beanie or a rain jacket, something. Could be an espresso machine. I don't know.

Rachel Yassin [00:41:47]:
Oh, that's such a good question. That's such a good question. I think I Would say, definitely my raincoat. And it's just like, from Decathlon, which is, like, a popular sports store here in Asia, and I think it's also in Europe. I am a coffee person. So no matter what, I'm going to have some kind of, like, instant coffee, or I now have this little filter and I can actually grind my own coffee. And all I need is hot water to pour over it. And that's nice.

Rachel Yassin [00:42:22]:
I hadn't given this question any thought. What do I bring? Yeah, I. I don't know. I don't have a good answer to that. But I will say, like, of course you're gonna bring a pump. And I love my pump. It's just one of those little teeny, tiny ones. And it's so good.

Rachel Yassin [00:42:43]:
I love this pump. If anything happens to it, I'll be so sad. But I. I don't have any good. I always have been. I always have bandanas. I have bandanas like, that I wear around my neck, that I wear on my head. Sometimes my handlebars will get, like.

Rachel Yassin [00:43:02]:
If they get wet, then they're slippery and it's hard for me to hold on, or it's hard for me to turn the gears, and so I'll use them on the handlebars. So I guess that would be one unique thing. Lots of bandanas.

Jerry Kopack [00:43:16]:
That's a good answer. I've never heard anyone tell me or Professor Love of bicycle palms, but bandanas

Rachel Yassin [00:43:22]:
is a good answer. Sorry, it took me a while to get there.

Jerry Kopack [00:43:26]:
Do you have a favorite snack that you keep with you? Like, for example, I'm a peanut butter guy. This is something that you try to keep in your frame bag or your panniers, just for those emergency sugar crashes.

Rachel Yassin [00:43:40]:
Yeah, I think it would be. It would have to be chips, like potato chips, some version of potato chips. And then lately I'm. I don't. My body doesn't love sugar. I'm a little sensitive in that regard.

Jerry Kopack [00:43:56]:
Yeah.

Rachel Yassin [00:43:56]:
But I've. But I've taken especially because, like, you can really be stuck and not have food for a long time. Then I carry emergency M and Ms.

Jerry Kopack [00:44:07]:
There it is. That's a good answer. I was going to say not a lot of calories or dense calories in chips, but emergency M and Ms. That's a good one.

Rachel Yassin [00:44:14]:
Emergency M and Ms. Will, like, save the day.

Jerry Kopack [00:44:18]:
And they're easy to come by in most places, I assume. Right. Like Coca Cola.

Rachel Yassin [00:44:21]:
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. You can always find them.

Jerry Kopack [00:44:24]:
And orange Fanta M and Ms. They're always there, right?

Rachel Yassin [00:44:28]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:44:29]:
Yeah, Last one. Give me your, your two minute pitch on Thailand and why people should come check it out.

Rachel Yassin [00:44:41]:
Oh, that's an interesting one. Oh, okay. I kind of don't want to say anything because I think it's like such a good secret. Too many people. Um, but. Okay, first of all, it's an amazing place to cycle, partially because of the diversity, because you can be at the coast, the gorgeous coast. You can be up in the mountains. You can be going through like actually really vibrant cities as well as just really remote jungle.

Rachel Yassin [00:45:16]:
So the landscape is amazing, the infrastructure is fantastic. So there's always just adorable coffee shops like all over. There's, there's. The food is fantastic. Really good. The people, the people are so nice. Just kind people. Yeah, it's very, I feel very safe here.

Rachel Yassin [00:45:43]:
Very safe. Like, I rarely lock up my bicycle. Okay. Now, like, I'm really passionate about my surly. So lately I, I do, I do lock it, but, but I don't really need to, I don't think. Honestly. It's just, it's a culture where like stealing isn't, isn't something that they do. It's really more.

Rachel Yassin [00:46:01]:
If there's like a lot of foreigners around that I'll make sure to lock it up. Yeah. The food, honestly, the food, the food here in Chiang Mai is like really amazing. Not just Thai food, but like all different kinds. And well, I mean if they're cyclists and they want a nice place to stay, then we are wonderful hosts. Yeah, we met, we are. We. We just started.

Rachel Yassin [00:46:38]:
We, we now just have a place where we have a little. It's really like a nice private area that people can stay at our home. And we have been hosted over the years with such kindness. I mean I have had, I cycled by myself in America right after Covid. From like Boston to Chicago. I think I stayed with 40 different Warmshowers hosts and just had the most unbelievable experience every single time. You never know, like every night you're going up to someone stranger's door and you know, like I knew with confidence that I was just going to have an incredible experience no matter what. It was such an amazing experience.

Rachel Yassin [00:47:24]:
And, and also Renee and I through the world from Australia to Thailand to all different places that we've been hosted. We. We finally get to give back. And it's so cool to meet people and help people that are on their

Jerry Kopack [00:47:44]:
way somewhere because you probably have an opportunity to host people quite a bit because there are a lot of people who do travel through Thailand, right?

Rachel Yassin [00:47:54]:
Yeah, there are, there's A lot of people coming through Chiang Mai. Yeah, yeah, that. Which is really great.

Jerry Kopack [00:48:01]:
Yeah, yeah. I.

Rachel Yassin [00:48:03]:
And there's. It's such. It's a. It's a great place to come. To come through Chiang Mai because. Yeah, for everything I just said, for like all the cycling that's available around and some people are coming from the north, some people are coming from the south, and then it's just really fun to give people ideas that they had never thought about for their tour, whichever way they're going.

Jerry Kopack [00:48:26]:
Yeah. I'm. I'm sort of bummed that I was there before you were hosting because we could have met in a warm shower situation when I was there nine years ago, so that would have been a really cool thing.

Rachel Yassin [00:48:38]:
I know. But the good news is that you can come back and stay with us. We would love to host you.

Jerry Kopack [00:48:45]:
Oh, that sounds wonderful. I do miss it. I do miss the street food. I do miss the culture. The concept of the Thai smile. People are just so genuine, so friendly, so helpful.

Rachel Yassin [00:48:57]:
Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:48:58]:
Yeah. So it sounds like you're going to be there for a while. Sounds like maybe you're. You're maybe not so much in. Into the nomadic lifestyle. You kind of found a place.

Rachel Yassin [00:49:08]:
No, no, no. I'm a nomad at heart.

Jerry Kopack [00:49:10]:
Okay.

Rachel Yassin [00:49:11]:
Use it as a. We use it as a base. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Jerry Kopack [00:49:14]:
Well, you have a base, though.

Rachel Yassin [00:49:16]:
Absolutely. 100 and. And yeah. So I think I look at it both ways. Like, I'll definitely be go. We definitely go for longer tours and just kind of mix it up.

Jerry Kopack [00:49:31]:
I love it. Well, Rachel, I want to thank you for hanging out with me today and sharing all your stories. How can our listeners find out more about your adventures?

Rachel Yassin [00:49:42]:
Oh, that's a good question. I'm on Instagram. You can see what I've done in the past. I'm not, like, really super active and I'm on Facebook. So on Instagram and Facebook, it's untame your life.

Jerry Kopack [00:49:59]:
Perfect.

Rachel Yassin [00:49:59]:
That's the untame your life. But I. But I will say, like, I'm also open if anyone just wants to reach out to me, wants to go on a bicycle tour, but doesn't know how, needs, like, wants inspiration, has never traveled around Asia and is intimidated if it's a woman. Like, a lot of women traveling alone are a little intimidated. I'm always. I feel like that's like the one thing I can give back a little bit. So if anyone just wants to reach out to me, I love that.

Jerry Kopack [00:50:35]:
That is such a good resource. And we will post links to your connections on our show notes so people can reach out to you either for a warm shower stay or just tips about Asia. That is so helpful. Thank you.

Rachel Yassin [00:50:49]:
Yeah, thank you, Jerry.

Jerry Kopack [00:50:51]:
All right, I want to thank everyone for listening to my conversation today with Rachel Yassine. Stories like these hopefully will inspire you to set off on your own bicycle adventure and maybe make the world feel a little bit smaller, one pedal stroke at a time. Until then, keep the wheels rolling and the stories coming. Thanks for joining us on Bike Life. I'm Jerry Kopak and I hope you enjoy enjoyed today's episode as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you. Please leave us a rating and review or just tell your friends. This helps us reach more cyclists and hosts around the world to learn more or become part of this amazing community. Visit us@warmshowers.org or follow us on Instagram at _warmshowers.

Jerry Kopack [00:51:35]:
Org. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, show or have a question you'd like us to explore, email us@podcastarmshowers.org.