Early 1966

Alex finds himself out of school and a prime candidate to be drafted. Like many people his age, he is in the process of finding out who he is and what he wants from life. Disillusioned by conventional social mores, he adopts a fatalistic attitude towards the draft as well as towards the accepted definitions of success and what constitutes a life well lived.

He goes surfing. His journey takes him first to Mexico, the Army, Korea, and back to California where the doors of perception continue to open.

Once out of the Army, he sets out to hitchhike across the country in the middle of winter, only to change his mind and head to Hawaii.