Daniel Wieczorek was born in 1947 in Ionia, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Forestry in 1969. He moved to Oregon to work in the field of forestry in 1971. That was followed by a move to Alaska in 1975, where he continued his career in forestry. After about a 14 year career in forestry, Daniel decided to do something different and he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Philippines from 1985 - 1987. Upon completion of his Peace Corps service he returned to Alaska, where he attended the University of Alaska - Fairbanks and received an M.

B.A. in 1991. This was followed by a move to South Korea in 1992, where Daniel taught English to Korean people wishing to improve their English Language skills. Daniel's next stop was in New York City, where he worked as temporary staff at Deutsche Bank from 1998 - 2001. He left NYC in March 2001 and moved on to Mitaka City, Tokyo, Japan. He taught English in Japan for 15 years and ended up teaching as a career for about 20 years before retiring with his life partner, Kazuya, to Fairbanks, Alaska. He has been hiking, climbing and doing photography since he was 12 years old.