About

Welcome to KateWasHere, a blog about travel, lifestyle, and kitschy things. My name is Kate Alvarez. I write all of the articles and take most of the photos you’ll find here.

photo by Sandro Paredes

I published this blog over a year ago for creative albeit self-centered reasons that most bloggers have—to write about my interests and to promote myself. It worked. People from all over the globe began reading my articles and checking out my photography. KateWasHere helped me land more writing gigs and gave me a wider access to art, indie, and lifestyle events. I was having the time of my life.

But my life was shattered on October 5, 2012. That morning, I woke up to the tragic news that I had lost my beloved Anton to depression. To refer to him as my boyfriend would be a bit of an understatement; he and I were planning to get married.

I stopped counting the days since that morning. I’ve grown tired of tracing the events and explaining different sides of the story that led to that tragic day. Before I met Anton in 2010, I was constantly running away from the world and getting into all sorts of trouble as I searched for the meaning of life.

When I met him, I realized I finally found what I was missing—the yin to my yang, the cliché soulmate that everyone keeps talking about, and my lifetime travel buddy. He was the only person who was able to peel through my layers and break down my fences. He accepted my eccentric and broken spirit for what it is and what it is not.

Now I am lost again. It’s like the answers I once had are erased into oblivion, and I am back to searching for my place on this earth. I feel homeless and hopeless.

Captain Anton Miguel Mapua Osmeña

The only thing worthwhile that I seem to look forward to these days is writing to Anton and for Anton. I write to him almost everyday in my journal as some sort of endless catharsis. I’ve been helping his uncle Mike Mapua with a website dedicated to Anton’s life and to help educate people about depression. His mother Cherry Schmidt and I have created the Facebook group, Survivors of Suicide (SOS) Philippines, an online community for those left behind by by good although troubled souls like Anton, and for Filipinos undergoing depression and other mental conditions. I now focus my attention on causes that I sincerely believe in, such as animal rights and mental awareness.

As for this blog, I’ve decided to switch gears. In my eulogy, I told Anton that I will keep traveling to the spots we both loved and new places we planned to explore together when he was still alive. Every entry from hereon is decided to the love of my life, Anton Miguel Mapua Osmeña, whose footprints I desperately imagine will be always be next to mine.

Love, peace and light,

Kate

November 8, 2012

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.