Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Crystal Fong. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

My name is Crystal and I took a risk into the unknown. I left a predictable comfortable routine life and jumped into one full of adventure and uncertainty. I followed the traditional path of living live in society. I went to the University of California Berkeley and received a degree in architecture, got the corporate job, worked for 10 years in the professional field and climbed the corporate ladder to a senior level position. After working about 10 years in the industry, I asked myself if I could work 40 more years until retirement? The answer was a resounding “No.” I did what I was “supposed to do”, then I asked myself now what’s next in life? I decided it was finally time to start working on my life dream which was to travel Europe. I wanted to backpack Europe when I was younger, but never did it. I picked up riding motorcycles out of college and started touring during Covid. I got laid off from my job in March 2020 and decided I was going to solo tour Europe on a motorcycle. I am an architectural designer turn solo world tourer and content creator. I wanted to document my journey to inspire others to chase their dreams and started content creation in hopes that it would help fund my journey. I designed and now manage my own blog, multiple social media channels and a YouTube channel. I have spent two years touring Europe and am now in Morocco resting before I head to the Middle East on my journey. I’m not sure where this content creation path will take me, but I learned a lot of new skills such as photography, photo and video editing, marketing and social media content creation along the way. Starting over in a completely different field than what I was traditionally trained to do was a risk worth taking for me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Creativity expands beyond architecture for me. I may have been traditionally trained as an architect, but architecture is just one of the many avenues to release my creativity and feed my desire for problem solving and curiosity. I selected architecture as a profession because I was inspired when I took Woodshop in high school. The idea of taking something from a 2D drawing and turning it into a 3D object was exciting to me. In the architecture world, I focused on retail stores, warehouses, commercial spaces, coffee shops and office spaces. What sets me apart is that I combine technical skills and experience along with listening to the client. This marriage of these two worlds allows for the space to be something both client and architect are proud of and happy with at the end of the day.

I dabble in pretty much anything that involves creativity. I create because what I want doesn’t exist. Why buy something when I can make it? I paint art, sew, make costumes, stuffed creatures, keychains, jewelry, furniture and have modeled as well. Some of these things I’ve generated income from, but most of this is just for fun. Content creation and sharing my motorcycle tour is just another avenue of creativity to me. It allows thoughts to stream out of my mind in the form of photography and writing.

I’m most proud of not limiting myself. We as humans don’t need to fit ourselves in boxes and do just one thing. We can explore different interests and be multi faceted creatures. Something I keep in mind when I am faced with an intimidating situation or idea is “Why not me?” And then I just do it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal is to inspire people to Chase Their Dreams. With my creative journey, my intention is to get my story out there. I hope that when people hear my story, they take one look at me to see what I am doing, and then they look back at themselves and think “If she can do it, I can too.” Leaving everything behind, starting over on a completely different lifepath and solo touring on my motorcycle isn’t easy. I understand that most people probably don’t want to live on a motorcycle, but if they can imagine all the tiny steps it took me to get where I am, then maybe they can reflect on their own lives and say to themselves, “Well maybe my hard thing isn’t so hard after all,” whether it’s moving, switching careers, going back to school, starting a business, whatever it may be. Sometimes humans just need to see a regular person doing it first and then start carving their own path.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It isn’t one particular moment, but it’s the accumulation of every hard day I’ve ever had on the road and to choose to keep going. These hard days happen more often than not and are mentally and physically taxing. I live a nomadic life and move almost every day or every other day and choose not to make plans on this journey. This forces me to be adaptable to situations as I don’t know where I’ll sleep that day or where I will end up.

A story that tests my resilience is a particularly hard day when I was riding in the countryside in Romania. I wanted to visit something called The Eternal Flame, which is an everlasting fire caused by the friction from gas released from inside the Earth when coming into contact with the soil. In order to get to this flame, I needed to cross my first river on my motorcycle and ride up a mud hill, both of which I’ve never done before. After crossing the river, I got stuck on the mud hill and got help from a one eyed villager and hiker passing by. I parked my bike and realized I needed to hike uphill for an hour in my motorcycle gear to the Eternal Flame. After reaching the flame and resting, I hiked back the mountain and got back to my bike. I successfully descended the mud hill without getting stuck this time, but instead, I got stuck in the mud after crossing the river. After about an hour struggle, I was able to get out with the help of another hiker. I was already mentally and physically spent at this point, but needed to ride another three hours in the dark to where I wanted to stay that night. All I had to eat that day was two yogurts and two fruit smoothies. I was lightheaded, dizzy, but kept going until I reached my accommodation. I slept and kept moving the next day.

Days like these happen quite often where I am pushed to my absolute limit. But as hard as these days are, I never allow self doubt or the idea of quitting to enter my mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chasingcrystal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasing.crystal/
• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/chasing.crystal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-fong510/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hichasingcrystal

Image Credits
Hania, Greece photo by Photographer Vassilis Kotrotsos Blue Aztec Photoshoot by Cristal Alvarado Garin Park Photoshoot by Cristal Alvarado