In 2006, Keys nearly suffered a breakdown. Her grandmother had passed away and her family was heavily dependent on her. She felt she needed to "escape" and went to Egypt for three weeks. She explained: "That trip was definitely the most crucial thing I've ever done for myself in my life to date. It was a very difficult time that I was dealing with, and it just came to the point where I really needed to basically, I just needed to run away, honestly. And I needed to get as far away as possible."