Michael was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, U.S.A., where, during his reckless school days, teachers would have been surprised if he could even find a country like India on a map. Where, also, in roaming the rural countryside he grew up in, it nurtured a seed of wanderlust, enticing him to join the Navy and later to travel the world working as a helicopter pilot. Spending nearly a decade overseas, from the East African island country of Seychelles to South Pacific islands to Malaysia and Thailand, he describes his time in India and winning the trust of its government as life changing. He and his wife now attempt to balance their time between Thailand and the United States, writing, reading, aviating and raising a young family.