Born in Oklahoma City's Little Saigon to refugee parents from Vietnam, Don became interested in rock climbing and had a sense of adventure at a very young age. This sparked his desire to study ecology and field biology at Colorado Mountain College and to explore thousands of miles of forests and national parks in the USA to get first-hand knowledge of history, botany and natural sciences. This culminated with a 2,200 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail after graduation form college and also connecting with his cultural heritage living with Vietnam's hill tribes.

As an experienced mountain guide and climbing and survival instructor, Don took on the ultimate challenge of survival on Naked and Afraid in Namibia in 2016 testing his primitive skills.