In 2011, I launched KateWasHere.com as an ambitious travel and lifestyle blog. I took a crash course in CSS and created what I hoped to be groundbreaking blog posts. Of course I realized through the years that this path wasn’t easy. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I started earning from my blog. In 2019, I redesigned my look.
After uploading my new cool WordPress theme, the drudging task came next—reformatting every single photo, page, and blog post. It took me a year to do that. It was more than just coding and resizing media embeds. It was a stroll down a path I wasn’t fully prepared to face—memory lane. From the grammatical errors I can’t believe I missed to the terrible DIY photo filter I first used, every single blog post made me realize how much KateWasHere.com—and Kate (if I may refer to myself in the third person)—have grown.
I cringed at some of the posts I churned out for the sake of having something to release that week. Should I delete or keep them? It’s like the high school essay I thought was brilliant at the moment, only for me to laugh at upon unearthing it in my adulthood. I decided to keep some. Others were begging to be deleted.
I saw the growth of my voice—how I experimented with various writing styles, how I tried to keep up with the AP Style Book, and how I was loyal to the Oxford comma. One moment I sounded like a casual blogger, and another moment I was more like National Geographic. I remember how “he/she” was the correct pronoun for neutral gender, but in today’s woke and modern era, it has finally evolved to “they.”
I shook my head at how I tried to squeeze in 20-30 photos per blog post back in 2011-2012. What were you thinking, Kate?
What about my “Quirks” section? It started as “Kitsch of the Week,” and bless my 2011 self for thinking it was a weekly gig I could maintain. I changed it to “Quirk of the Week” after I realized that not everyone sees the word kitsch as a term of endearment the way I and the Betsey Johnsons of the world do. When weekly was no longer viable, it became “Quirk of the Month.” Finally, come 2018, it simply became “Quirks.”
As for “My Space,” that section is still alive and kicking.
I noticed names and faces that appeared constantly one season, and then gone the next. I guess some were meant to be that way—a passing character that helped fill up the scene, or one who could not cross over to the next chapter with me. Other characters I wish had recurred longer. And for those who know my personal life story, one name brought a wave of emotions—pain, longing, trauma, and love.
To celebrate my blog’s 10th year, I’m giving away this eco kit:
2. Anti-aging CC creams for the hair, also from Naturtint
3. Reusable eco bag
4. Reusable straw set
Here’s how you can join the raffle:
1. Follow me @replikate and @naturtint_ph on IG.
2. Like 5 of my IG posts.
3. Comment “Happy Blog Anniversary!” on my IG prize post.
Bonus raffle entries:
4. Comment on my blog posts on KateWasHere.com. Leave as many comments as you want. Only comments from from May 3-10, 2021 (10am cutoff) will be counted as raffle entries.
5. The winner will be announced here, on my Instagram, and on my FB page on May 10, 12nn. Prize will be delivered to the winner for free.
Open to Philippine residents only. Good luck!