Amanda Lindhout

Amanda was the daughter of a dysfunctional family. Her parents divorced when Amanda was young and her father entered into a stable gay relationship. While he was one of the few men living this lifestyle at the time, Amanda was actually more comfortable in the stable home he provided than she was in the chaos of her mother's home. While her upbringing might have sent Amanda searching for stability of her own, it had the opposite effect, prompting her dream to see other countries and to experience their culture firsthand.

Amanda was somewhat shy about traveling on her own initially, but soon overcame that as she sought to fulfill her dreams. She worked hard and saved as much money as possible to fund the dream of extensive travel. When she encountered journalists who were traveling at the expense of various news agencies, she thought that would...