Peter Jenkins, born on July 8, 1951, in Greenwich, Connecticut, is the eldest of six children of Frederick and Mary Jenkins. He graduated from Greenwich High School in 1969 and attended the Woodstock festival in the summer of 1969. He went on to graduate from Alfred University in 1973 with a BFA, majoring in Sculpture/Ceramics.

Peter is renowned for his extensive travels, most notably his 'Walk Across America,' which he began on October 15, 1973, in Alfred, New York, and concluded in mid-January 1979 in Florence, Oregon. When not traveling, he resides on a farm in middle Tennessee.

He is the father of six children: Aaron, Brooke, Rebekah, Jedidiah, Luke, and Julianne, and is married to Rita Jorgensen of Michigan.