Crystal Amethyst Egan attributes much of adventurous spirit to the way she was brought up and the travelling she did when she was young. 

EVER since childhood Crystal Amethyst Egan has thrived on using her imagination and love of the outdoors to create her own entertainment and adventure. Therefore, it’s no surprise that today her travel blogs and vlogs found at www.castawaywithcrystal.com are some of the most popular online.

Her talent for storytelling can at one moment leave you in stitches and the next fill you with warmth as she talks about one of the many topics she is so passionate about.

In this exclusive interview she explains some of the reasons she’s become such an internet hit, what’s behind her incredible storytelling technique and where and how she’s currently spending her time.

Find out more about Crystal and join in on her adventures at www.castawaywithcrystal.com, follow her on Twitter at CrystalCastaway or find her on Facebook at castawaywithcrystal.

Tell us a bit about life being raised on a religious cult and the positive, and any negative, effects that have had on the person you are today?

I don’t remember too much because I was quite young when my parents split, my dad taking my brother (and the cult) back with him to the US. We didn’t have a TV so I had a huge imagination. My sister and I had hundreds of toys that all have names and different personalities. We could occupy ourselves for days.

I remember the day we first got a TV, I was about six. Mum was super excited, but my sister and I didn’t really see what was so great about it. Our backyard was much more entertaining.

But the cult definitely had its downsides. I was a very sick baby and my mother told me my dad refused to let her take me to the doctor. I had an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe. My dad hid the car keys and proclaimed “her life is in God’s hands.” Mum had to take me to the hospital on foot and could very well have saved my life that day.

Crystal also has a keen interest in the environment, nature and photography.

What was it like getting used to travelling and life on the road from such a young age?

The thing about being a child is, you’re very resilient. I just went where my mum went and if that meant living in a campervan in the Central Australian desert, then so be it. Living in the desert happened before I’d started school but I got the type of education and sense of adventure instilled into my being that can only come from a nomadic upbringing.

As I got older, mum would attempt to keep the family in one place but every couple of years or so we would be uprooted and swiftly moved to a new area. This was usually because mum rented after moving to New South Wales in Australia and for whatever reason always had to change houses. Nowhere ever really felt like home, and still doesn’t. I don’t have the typical ‘house I grew up in’ or even ‘town I grew up in’. I just tell people the last place I lived before I flew the nest and went to university is where I’m from.

I don’t have too much of an attachment to places, or things. I live a minimalist life and I like it that way. If I don’t like somewhere, I can go. It’s simple and comforting to me, to never be taped down.

When you got out and started exploring the world by yourself what made you choose the specific countries you have travelled to so far?

Countries I went to when I first started travelling usually happened by chance. I went to Bali at 18 because my friends were going for the end of school parties. Then I went to the states to see my dad who took me to Mexico (which is still one of my favourite countries). Then I did six months in South America because I’d finished uni and some friends were over there. India, the same reason…

If I like a place, I’ll stay. If I don’t, I move on. If I REALLY like it, I will come back.

What have been your travel highlights to date as well as any moments you’d rather not have to experience again?

Unlike my usual drifting style of travel, Cuba was a county I had dreamed of and even attempted to get to in the past. Cuba was my enigma for years.

I got very close once but backed out at the last minute because I wasn’t confident in my Spanish skills. Instead, I went elsewhere and dreamed of Cuba for four years.

In 2014, I based myself in Mexico and taught myself Spanish for two hours each night. After five months of this, my mum fell ill with terminal cancer. She only had a short time to live.

Cuba changes as a country by leaps and bounds every day. If I didn’t go immediately, I would miss out on seeing it before the American embargo was dropped. I booked a short trip there and raced around the country like a madwoman. And I wouldn’t change a second. Every minute spent in vibrant Cuba not only quenched my thirst for the country, but it also exceeded my expectations as to how much I would like it. Cuba isn’t for everyone, but for me Cuba was everything.

Maybe I’m just lucky, or maybe I just take all my misfortunes with an ounce of gratitude but there isn’t much I would change. The beauty of life is that the moments of sadness only make the happy days in life that much sweeter.

Obviously, my mum’s sickness took a hard blow on me and I had to move back home and abandon my travels for several years before I felt ready to leave my sisters again. But that is life. These times make you tougher and wiser.

After she started travelling Crystal found she had a natural talent for retelling some of the events and stories of her adventurous trips overseas.

When did you realise your ability as a storyteller and realise you could utilise this through the video and combine it with your love of travel?

After university, I fell into a depression. I was involved in a fatal car crash when I was 16 and I’d just finished revisiting this traumatic time of my life to make a documentary about it as my final project at uni. My friends identified my mental health state and invited me to South America for six months of fun before I got serious about my career.

Upon my return, telling the stories was my favourite pastime. Excitedly, I’d jump around the room, animating the latest story to whoever would listen. There was the hilarious ‘kidnapping’ of a pushy Peruvian guy in Cuzco… Staying on a deserted island with a Russian ex-soviet soldier in Panama… Oh and the embarrassing one where I pooped on my own leg in Peru… I knew I needed to find a platform to put these stories onto. Naturally, blogging became that platform.

When I started my first travel blog in 2011 with a friend I avoided writing because I believed she was a far better storyteller than I in that area. I was trained in video and found the written word quite overwhelming. My storytelling skills are everchanging and evolving and I think I still have a lot to learn when it comes to how I tell stories both written and captured in my camera.

If one of our readers hasn’t yet watched one of your videos which one would you recommend the most to get them introduced to your style and to learn what you’re all about?

Although it’s not one of my best, it’s one of my favourites… I went on a road trip around New Zealand with my best friend in the world and decided to film the whole thing and put it together as a vlog.

James and I bounce off each other well. While driving around the North Island we make up songs about our van, James get angry over a spot of rain, we make up dad jokes and the sat nav continually interrupts my vlog. Although it’s rough, I think that video really shows me as a person, my sense of humour, how I talk, etc. If you want to get to know me, start there.

Crystal has found herself surrounded by some incredibly picturesque while she has been away exploring the world.

Where are you currently and what travel and other plans do you have lined up for the year ahead?

I’m back in Mexico… My spirit country. Is that even a thing…? My girlfriend and I attempted Europe for a few months. But after spending the equivalent of a deposit on a house in only a couple of months and with me banging on and on about ‘the Caribbean’ (what with the cheap prices and good weather) we’re back here.

The plan was to buy a car in Mexico (sometimes things don’t always go to plan, hey?) and drive south. Now, we are on Cozumel island housesitting.

Our ‘plan’ (ha ha) is still to buy a car but who knows? Perhaps I’ll end up a cartel member, or starting an animal adoption agency on the island.

Whatever happens, there will be lots of scuba diving, car driving and late-night dancing involved. I’m sure of it.