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Filipino pop idol Sophia Laforteza recently opened up to fans midway through KATSEYE's first U.S. tour, sharing an honest snapshot of how life on the road has been feeling so far.

In a six-minute video on KATSEYE's YouTube channel, Sophia talked about the highs, the challenges, and the small personal realizations that have come with nonstop travel.

At the time of filming, the group had just arrived in Atlanta, and Sophia admitted that the tour already felt like it was moving faster than she expected. Still, she shared that she's slowly finding her rhythm.

"Hey icons, it's Sophia. I'm in my own little corner. We're now in Atlanta, Georgia. We're in Danny's home and we're like almost midway of the tour. It's kind of moving really fast. I feel like I'm starting to get into a groove with the tour and what I need for myself and just how I'm going about a lot of the things. Still learning a lot more, I think one of the things I'm still trying to figure out is what I'm doing with my packing and suitcases like packing and unpacking every night. That's crazy."

As the tour continues to hop from city to city, Sophia acknowledged that adjusting hasn't always been easy. Between daily performances, flights, long van rides, and constantly changing environments, she's been learning what helps her stay balanced.

One thing she's come to understand more clearly is how important alone time is for her, especially while traveling in unfamiliar places.

"And I'm also learning that I really, really value alone time while on tour, especially because we are traveling a lot and I'm in a lot of places where I haven't been before.

"I'm somebody that loves to sort of spend time with myself. When I was in Toronto, that was when I was kind of going through some things. So that was when I sort of took a day off for myself for the first time ever."

Even on tougher days, Sophia shared that the connection she feels with fans has been a constant source of strength. Being far from home hasn't been easy, but seeing familiar faces in the crowd has helped her feel less alone.

"Genuinely speaking, my icons have been a big part of pushing me to show up every day. Being on tour and not being close to my hometown, I don't have a lot of family who are coming on tour. And every time I see our fans in the audience that I'm sort of familiar with and I know that they've been there for a long time, like I literally know a lot of them already by name.

"It just makes me feel like I have family with me. And no matter what I'm going through, once I hit the stage and I see the icons just excited to see me, I feel like that's a feeling that nobody can ever take away from me.

"Thank you in advance. I'm so excited. I honestly cannot believe that we're like halfway through the tour already. I'm really excited for us to do bigger venues and longer tours, but I'll see you soon."

Later in the vlog, as time passes and the tour moves on to Texas, Sophia becomes more reflective. Watching her fellow members perform in front of their hometown crowds prompted her to think about what that experience might feel like for her.

She said, "It's kind of making me think because now we're sort of going around the States and I imagine how it would be like to sort of have a lot of my family and friends sort of be there cuz I kind of saw how that was for Dani."

That reflection was paired with excitement, especially as she looked forward to seeing Lara have her own hometown moment. Sophia also shared that she was grateful to have a family member there to support her.

"But I'm really excited because we're in Texas now and I'm gonna see Lara sort of experience that and I feel like each and every one of us in the group deserve to have that where we get to be in our hometown and perform with a lot of our family and friends. So I had my tita come and watch me."

She also looked back on an emotional night in New York, when many of the group's families were finally together in the audience, a milestone moment for KATSEYE as a whole.

Sophia recalled, "We were in New York and it meant a lot because that night was the first night where most of our family was present for all of KATSEYE, like all the parents were there, all the moms were there, and I didn't get to have my family or my mom or my dad there."

Still, that night carried its own kind of comfort. Sophia shared how meaningful it was to have someone she deeply admires there to support her.

She fondly remembers seeing DELA, "So, it meant a lot to sort of have DELA be there as my proxy, especially because she's somebody that I look up to forever. She did so much for the Filipino community in terms of performing arts globally. She's one of those Filipinos who really made a breakthrough in musical theater and in music and performing."

Sophia is the daughter of musical and theater actress Carla Guevara Laforteza and executive chef Godfrey Laforteza.

Through these moments, Sophia's reflections paint a picture of a tour that's not just about performances, but about growth, connection, and learning how to carry pieces of home with her, even when she's far away.

KATSEYE is a girl group under HYBE UMG and Geffen, which formed through reality competition Dream Academy. The group debuted in 2024 with members Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Jeung Yoon-chae. Their hits include "Touch," "Gnarly," and "Gabriela." The EP's second single, “Gabriela,” broke into the top 40 of the Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, while the group also received a nod for Best New Artist.

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