LP Kiatoukaysy told his story to producer Caro Rolando for an episode of The Daily Rally podcast. It has been edited for length and clarity.
There were a couple of people that had mentioned that a plane had hit the first tower. So I looked up, and of course I could see a lot of flames. The impact of the plane on that first tower, and just mail and pieces of paper and debris falling. But even before I could begin to process all that, that’s when that second plane hit the South Tower. That’s really when I was running for my life.
On trail, I go by Lil’ Buddha. Right now, I am on the Appalachian Trail. I grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas.
I’m an American adventurer. I am also a long distance thru-hiker, and that is really what drives me, motivates me, and also inspires me.
I’m Hmong-American. The Hmong are a Southeast Asian group that came over to the United States in the seventies, as a product of the Vietnam War. My family was part of that.
We have a saying in our language that translates to, “We are of the mountains.” And Hmong, in Cantonese, actually translates to, “free people.” And so our ability to remain autonomous, to have our own lives, and to live the way that we want is very, very important culturally.
Coming to Kansas and having that barren kind of landscape, and just the whole culture shock of coming from Southeast Asia to the Midwest, was pretty eye-opening, I think, for my family. We really found refuge by visiting Colorado. Hmong people love to hunt, we love to fish, and all of those things. So my parents were able to save enough for each summer and we would go to Colorado and go on vacation. That’s really where the love of the outdoors started for me as a young person.
Growing up in the Midwest in Kansas, I was a pretty odd child. I was really interested in counterculture literature.I got really interested in Jack Kerouac. That kind of changed my whole worldview, and really just let me know what else might be out there beyond the confines of my small Midwest town.
I graduated college and immediately got out of there. I moved to New York, because that was something that my literary influences had done. So I found myself shortly after college in Manhattan. I was there in the mid-nineties, working down in the financial center. I was a marketing manager at American Express.
I would take the subway down to the World Trade Center. That morning of September 11 was a beautiful autumn morning. The sun was shining, just a typical New York day. I just happened to be on the train when the first tower was hit.
The train came to an abrupt stop and everyone kind of jolted. Everyone’s in work clothes, so there’s no being nimble and keeping yourself up. People were pretty much falling on top of each other, being pushed up against each other.
We came into the station, and the first thing I noticed was smoke, there was just a lot of smoke. The transit authority came down and told us all to evacuate. We exited the train and I walked up the stairs.
I made the mistake of walking directly up onto that plaza. The first thing I noticed was all this debris, a lot of office equipment, mail, pieces of paper just flying around. You start asking people, what’s going on?
There were a couple of people that had mentioned that a plane had hit the first tower. So I looked up, and of course I could see a lot of flames. The impact of the plane on that first tower, and just mail and pieces of paper and debris falling. But even before I could begin to process all that, that’s when that second plane hit the South Tower. That’s really when I was running for my life.
This is kind of weird. I think for me, it’s really difficult to talk about this. But I think it’s important.
We’re all just kind of looking up at the towers. And then you start hearing screams. That day it was all about sirens and people yelling and screaming and crying. This was a different type of scream though. The people that were up in those towers, they were trapped. They were making life decisions, to end their life by jumping out the windows. It was just too much for me. So I turned and headed north, and walked home.
Probably about three months after September 11th, I can remember this to this day, sitting in my office, I made a conscious decision that I’m gonna leave my job, gonna leave New York. I’m gonna get rid of all of my possessions and just put everything into a backpack and start walking.
I had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail before I started working, and the very first thru hike I ever did was on the John Muir Trail.
I knew I wanted to have a life beyond what I was doing. I wanted to kind of take back my own agency and my own sense of self because that had been lost. The trail was always there. It was always something that I remember being my best and most authentic self on.
One thing that you will encounter on trail, no doubt, is trail magic. Trail magic is essentially just when someone does something kind and unexpected. That could be as simple as giving you a ride to town to resupply, or sometimes people come out and will actually meet you and make food, and have this whole setup. It’s pretty amazing. That is something that I think is just really unique to thru hiking and long distance travel. These magical, spontaneous moments of human kindness, where we’re all just out there enjoying company. Enjoying times shared together, in usually an incredible and beautiful surrounding.
Often, I find myself much more giving, much more forgiving. I find myself wanting to be helpful because that’s what’s been given to me, and so it’s kind of like this feedback loop.
I think people think that thru hiking and backpacking and exploring are about getting away from people. And again, actually the irony of thru hiking is it brings you back to community and to connection.
One mantra I always practice is gratitude, because I think when you’re in the moment, you can get really down, like, Why is everything wrong? What is going on? Why are my shoes not right? My backpack broke, I can’t get a ride. And so in those moments, and it’s oftentimes when I’m walking on a road, I find myself really not grateful. So I purposefully will practice a gratitude mantra, that’s just something as simple as saying something like, I allow myself to expand my gratitude. I’m gonna enjoy this day. Thank you for this pain. Thank you for the weight that’s in my backpack. It’s just something to kind of get myself out of that mood. And it works.
Once you start letting go of things that you think are supposed to be the right thing and allowing yourself to just be in that moment, that’s really when the magic happens.
LP Kiatoukaysy, or Lil’ Buddha, is a Hmong-American adventurer, speaker, and outdoor advocate. He’s currently hiking the Pangea Traverse, a route that includes three continents and crosses 18 countries. To follow along with his adventures, visit his Instagram @.
You can follow The Daily RallyDz,,, or wherever you like to listen. and to be featured on the show.