As readers of this autobiography soon discover, Peter Schroeder has lived out both traditional and divergent lifestyles. Armed with degrees from Princeton (B.S.E.), University of New Mexico (M.S.E.), and Stanford (M.B.A.), he carved out successful careers in nuclear weapons testing and international business. Interspersed with his professional endeavors, he had stints of hopping freight trains across the country, hitchhiking around Europe, slacking as a surfer dude, impersonating a priest, living in four countries, receiving not one but two presidential deferments from the Viet Nam draft, living in ashrams in India and Oregon, and battling a fatal form of bone marrow cancer. In current times he can be found skiing, sailing, scuba diving, or pursuing other adventures at hot spots around the globe as an outdoor travel writer. When he's not on the road, he and his wife Risa divide their time between homes in Seattle, Washington, and Sonoma, California, where they tend to their Syrah vineyard and boutique winery.