about Me
Hi, I’m Laurel — a.k.a. Cow Bay Shrub — a fifty-something travel lover living on beautiful Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada.
Travel has pretty much always been part of my life, even when “travelling” meant jumping in the car and seeing where the road went.
I grew up in southern Ontario, close enough to the U.S. border that road trips into the States were fairly easy. By the time I turned 30, I had already visited 38 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces.
And almost all of it was by car.
I love driving. Always have. The one big exception was a very long bus ride from San Diego to Toronto...which is definitely a story for another day.
Then I Moved West
In 2005, I moved to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with my husband and daughter.
For the next twenty years, I explored as much of the Island as I could — little towns, back roads, beaches, day trips and weekend escapes.
My mum and I also had a tradition for more than a decade that I absolutely loved: annual road trips around western Canada and the U.S., usually inspired by places I had seen on the Food Network.
Basically, food became a perfectly reasonable excuse for a road trip.
Still is.
Then Asia Happened...
In 2015, I surprised my husband with a trip back to his home country, the Philippines.
It was my first trip to Asia.
And I fell hard.
The food, the people, the chaos, the scenery, the energy...I loved all of it. I returned twice more before COVID brought international travel to a screeching halt.
Like everyone else, I suddenly wasn't going anywhere.
So I travelled through YouTube instead.
I spent way too many hours watching travel channels and mentally transporting myself to places I had never been. Somewhere during all of that binge-watching, my casual love of travel turned into something much bigger.
The travel bug had officially taken over.
Getting Back Out There
In 2023, I finally returned to the Philippines and added a four-day side trip to Singapore and Malaysia.
That was it.
I needed more.
In 2024, I did something I honestly wasn't sure I could pull off — I travelled solo around the world, visiting 19 countries in 16 days.
Yes. Nineteen.
It was fast, occasionally ridiculous and completely outside my comfort zone.
It also changed the way I looked at travel.
I realized I really could do this on my own.
I love travelling with my husband, but there is something incredibly freeing about solo travel. No coordinating. No negotiating. No waiting for someone else to wake up.
I can eat when I want, wander where I want and change my plans because I spotted something interesting down a random side street.
That freedom is pretty addictive.
Apparently, I Also Love Planning Trips
In 2025, I planned my 25th-anniversary vow renewal in the Philippines.
Friends and family came from Canada and Australia, and somewhere along the way I basically became the unofficial tour operator.
I arranged hotels, excursions, transportation, day-by-day itineraries and even put together a “What to Expect in the Philippines” guide.
I also organized a Cebu side trip for 15 people.
Nothing stressful about that...
And then Super Typhoon Uwan showed up.
Not everything went according to plan — travel rarely does — but the whole experience made me realize something.
I love planning travel almost as much as I love taking the trip.
Researching routes. Comparing hotels. Figuring out transportation. Finding the little places most tourists miss. Building an itinerary that actually makes sense.
I genuinely enjoy all of it.
And That Brings Me Here
Now it’s 2026, and I’ve officially become a travel advisor.
I’m still travelling too.
This year includes a solo trip through Vietnam with long layovers in Singapore and Manila, followed by another trip to the Philippines and Taiwan with my husband.
And I already know there will be more.
My Kind of Travel
You’re probably not going to find much five-star luxury around here.
That’s just not how I normally travel.
I like finding the affordable hotel that's in a great location. I’ll happily eat dinner from a street-food stall. I love public transit, wandering neighbourhoods on foot and squeezing as much as possible out of a long airport layover.
I save money where I can...and occasionally spend it where I think the experience is worth it.
I also have a full-time job, which means I can't disappear for months at a time. Most of my bigger trips happen in September or November, so I’ve become pretty good at making limited vacation time count.
Luckily, I live on Vancouver Island — which means when I can't jump on a plane, there are endless little adventures right outside my door.
Day trips. Weekend escapes. Ferry rides. Small towns. Beaches. Back roads.
There is always somewhere new to go.
And that's really what Cow Bay Shrub is about.
Real travel. Real budgets. Plenty of planning. A little chaos.
And proving that adventure definitely doesn't have an age limit.