Impostor Syndrome

Vercors Mountains, France (2024)

I am very sure I am not the only one that experiences this because I have been at this state as well, sometime three years ago when I began a new position. And now, I find myself back on this familiar forest of continuous cycles of self-doubt and of fear. Fear that I'm not and will never be good enough for this new position. I know I haven't been working full time for a month yet on this new responsibility but I feel like it's just so big that what I have expected. But at the same time, I keep reminding myself to cut myself some slack because even if there was not much pressure (or should I say almost nothing really) coming from the leadership and my new team (they are supportive), I still feel overwhelmed because of the pressure I put on myself and worse, the constant struggle of feeling like a failure because I don't know everything at once. 

I know the answer is in my head and in my hand and that is to remind myself that I am doing just well. And that I should not be scared to ask for help, to remind myself that things take time, and most of all to trust and believe in the leaders who chose me for this position against quite a number of other applicants - that even if I'm a newborn on this unfamiliar field, if I put my mind and effort into it (and of course combined with time, patience, and the support that is present) I will be able to make it, just like the last one.

We just tend to think that past positions are way easier and new ones are way more and harder but we should never forget that maybe it's not really the case, it's just the "unfamiliarity" of it that magnifies what it is right in front of us.

Never Stop Believing in Yourself and Time

Stevenson

Another Mountain

 

Mount Pulag, Philippines - February 2025

After a year and a half, I got the courage to write again. A lot has happened in these past two years and it has probably the fastest two years of my life. Not just because of my new life in Spain but with all the events that unfolded both positive and negative - but thankfully a lot more on the positive ones. But with everything comes the lessons we learn and events that will sharpen our faith, our humility, and most of all, our strength.

Just posting this as a shout out to everyone who has been sending me comments and messages throughout my absence and these are something I really appreciate. I honestly feel very guilty as most of them I only read today and posted your comments through approval but I just want you all to know that I really appreciate all the thoughts and especially to my blogging friend Beatrice who, despite my absence and continuous silence, constantly checked on me. 

Leaving you for now with this photo of my last hike to Mount Pulag, the third highest peak in the Philippines - this was really a big challenge for me but I was so proud that I made it! You can also watch the two part episode of this adventure on my YouTube Channel - Steven's Queue

The Journey Continues

Just a post to say hi to everybody and I have been traveling lately during weekends just around Western Europe. Weather is getting chillier than usual here in Barcelona. I love it personally after a striking summer last August that got me sick for a couple of weeks. But so far it's been amazing, my first 9 months. Been trying to do a Social Media break so to spend better time I have updated my Blog's Domain using a subdomain.

To my dear Blog Friends, if you would change your bookmarks to my blog to direct to my new address which is https://blog.stevensonque.com it would be amazing. Just to spare you the extra click as my old link will now lead you to a more generic site that I plan to use to post my link tree and some portfolio stuff.

For now I leave you with this beautiful photo I took around the Universitat area in my Barcelona. Hope you like it and wishing you all the best and blessings!

Stevenson

Vic

About 70 kilometers north of Barcelona is the city of Vic. Just a little bit more than an hour by train from Barcelona Sants, this city has an iconic plaza that has been preserved through the ages. It is located in the plains and is perfectly in the center of the Coasts of Barcelona and the Pyrenees range thus giving it a very special climate and vegetation that makes its winters a lot colder than most of Barcelona province.

I went there on a weekend of May, just for a day trip as part of my New Place Sundays. (Which I haven't done in the past two weeks now because I fell ill but I'm getting better now little by little). It was a quiet city especially since I went there on a Sunday where everything is expected to be closed here in Spain.

    
Stores line up on beautiful medieval alleys

Vic also has a prominent university wherein Spanish students and even from neighboring countries chose to take their degrees. It was once a big textile producer just like other cities in the Barcelona province, but now this industry is slowly fading away if not completely. But one of my favorite sausages, the fuet which is a thin cured pork sausage is being manufactured mostly here.

    
Some interesting signs I saw around the city, including a cafe with my name.

Just another amazing city very close to Barcelona. Truly, the region that I am living in boasts a lot of beautiful sights and colorful culture that is both distinctly their own and at the same time, distinctly Catalan. I feel really blessed to call this region my new home.

Leaving you this post with a photo of me on the city's iconic square, thanks to a group of students who passed buy and were kind to take this solo traveler's photo.

Never stop taking pictures!
Stevenson

Girona

Catedral de Santa María de Gerona

Girona is located 100 kilometers north-east of Barcelona. It has its own Airport but you can reach this beautiful city by train from major stations in Barcelona in an hour and a half. As it is located in between Barcelona and the French border, visitors not just from Spain and Catalunya but also from France make this a popular destination.

In my case, I rode the earliest train from Barcelona Sants that took me straight to the French border city of Cerbère. All of it in another post but the bottomline is, I went to Girona just as a side trip on my way back from France.

Estació de Girona

I arrived 2 hours late than intended because our train got stranded just a good 20 kilometers before Girona due an accident with the train that went first than us. But it was not that bad because I was able to have time to read my book and also it was still a bit early. But upon arriving, I was greeted by the nice (and cooled) Girona train station. So I tried to purchase my tickets back to Barcelona and then moved forward

Pro Tip: When doing a spontaneous weekend trip, upon arriving to your destination without yet an outgoing ticket to your next destination or in my case, home - best to buy your tickets in advance before leaving the train station if possible. This will save you time and anxiety as you can plan when you need to be at the station for your outgoing train.

   

My room for a night at Girona

I was supposed to do just a day trip but hearing a number of people telling how nice Girona is, I thought I'd stay a night. I booked the cheapest thing in Booking.com and I saw Residència Universitaria Pare Claret. It looks simple and clean, as long as it has a private bathroom and an AC in this hot Spanish Summer, it's a deal for me. And I was happy with my booking, especially mentioning again the AC!

Residència Universitaria Pare Claret

Rda. Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 28

17002 Girona

So after a shower because it was an extremely humid August afternoon, I set foot to the old city. This "modern" part of the city is separated from the historic quarters by the river Onyar.

Riu Onyar

Even from here I can see the medieval buildings already which excited me so much. It was a Saturday afternoon and there were quite a crowd but not Barcelona afternoon level. I wanted to go to the Cathedral as it is one of the filming locations of the Game of Thrones Series which I followed since it aired its second season.

The Facade of the Cathedral of Girona

This beautiful cathedral was really enormous! It is so beautiful that it was the chosen location to depict the Great Sept of Baelor on HBO's The Game of Thrones series. I had to use my phone's 0.5 lens just to capture it from bottom to top thus the distortion but still I love the photo that I shared it with you. 

It is also known as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Girona and is a Roman Catholic church that was and completed in the early 18th century. But it has a long traced history dating back to the 6th century before it was transformed into a mosque by the Islamic conquest of Iberia. 

Sant Martí de Girona

Another place on my list was Sant Marti de Girona. Honestly, this is my favorite place in Girona. The reason is that one of my favorite Filipino Movies had scenes filmed in Girona and one of those iconic locations was this one. I mean, it's both grand and romantic at the same time right? And to be able to see it in my eyes was very touching for me.

Just like on the movie, the base of the dividing staircase is a busy café with summer chairs and tables and I wanted to see it without all the other tourists (which I successfully achieved the next morning when I decided to visit it again).

   

But of course, what summer getaway would ever be complete without some ice cream! There's a lot of ice cream shops around the city but I chose this cute shop Roli Gelateria not just because it has a high rating in Google Maps, but because the interiors were cute. Good thing I did because the crew were very nice (as you can see I did not feel shy to ask my photo to be taken) and I felt a bit adventurous that day to try new flavors. I opted for a scoop of Speculoos and another of Lime. I never had Lime ice cream and I tell you, Roli's lime flavor is amazing! I highly recommend Roli when you visit Girona!

Roli Gelateria

Carrer de Santa Clara, 3

17001 Girona

Catalan Architecture

Overall, my trip to Girona was a very good one! I can confidently say that it is my favorite place in the region of Catalunya, well of course next to my Barcelona. People are nice and chill and there's a lot of things to see, flavors to taste, and memories to make! These are moments when a side-trip became a very good destination which you are sure to visit again in the future.

Never Sleep on Sidetrips,

Stevenson

Garraf

Located south west of Barcelona, Garraf is a 45-minute train ride from Sants Station. It is a quaint seaside town but boasts stunning blues - both the sky and the sea. There's a small bay where people enjoy the beach and walking further west is a Marina where you can enjoy the breeze in a very quiet spot.

      

I went there in Spring so the weather was perfect, spent just a few hours to take pictures and enjoy a new town just outside home. I did not see any big restaurants or hotels on the stretch I walked by but it was a very cute place.

Never Stop Exploring Small Towns!

Stevenson

Pictures from Verona

Last June, my teammate from work who became one of my bestest friends, let me tag along on his trip home to his country by land so that I could also celebrate my birthday with him because he's basically like family to me. For the first stop of our 4 day drive to the Balkans, we stopped at Verona. It was a quiet city compared to the big giants like Roma, Milano, or Venezia but it was really beautiful!

Here are some pictures from my camera - unprocessed and unaltered - that I would love to share with you all from the City of Love!

“There is no world without Verona walls,

But purgatory, torture, hell itself.

Hence banished is banish'd from the world,

and world's exile is death.