about Me
I am Laurel (aka CowBayShrub), a fifty-something woman living with my wonderful husband on beautiful Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada. I have always loved travelling, even if it was only close to home. Growing up in southern Ontario, I was able to visit the States quite often, and by the time I was 30, I had visited 38 US states and 9 Canadian provinces. I love to drive and other than a bus ride from San Diego, California to Toronto, Ontario, all of these were visited by car.
In 2005, I moved out to Vancouver Island, British Columbia with my husband and daughter. Over the last twenty years, I've explored a great deal of the Island as well as annual food network trips that my mum and I took around the western states and provinces for over a decade.
In 2015, I visited Asia for the first time when I surprised my husband with a trip back home to the Philippines. I fell in love with the country and we visited twice more before COVID hit and we were forced to stay close to home.
During lockdown, I spent a lot of time watching travel channels on YouTube as a way to make life seem less miserable. I was able to transport myself to these magical places and I think that is when the travel bug really bit me. And, finally in 2023, we were able to return to the Philippines with a 4-day side trip to Singapore and Malaysia. This cemented my need to travel.
