Hi, I'm Maila

I grew up in a small town in the Philippines — the kind of place that feels both endlessly familiar and quietly full of possibility. From a young age I was drawn to the idea of elsewhere: other languages, other landscapes, other ways of living. That curiosity took me to Singapore, then onto ships crossing the world's oceans, and eventually to the United States, where I lived for several years and built a life I was proud of.

But something kept pulling me further. I'd always been drawn to the quieter corners of the world — the places that don't make the headlines, that haven't been polished into postcards, that reward the traveller who takes the time to look properly. Herefordshire was one of those places. I arrived almost by accident, and I never quite left.

Herefordshire Finds started as a private notebook — a record of the walks I was doing, the markets I was browsing, the restaurants and hotels and hidden valleys I wanted to remember. At some point it became a website, and then it became something people actually read. I'm still a little surprised by that, and very grateful for it.

This site is more than a travel blog to me. It's the foundation for something I've been building towards for a long time: a trusted voice for people who want to travel with intention, discover places that feel genuinely special, and find a little of what I found here — a sense of belonging, and the quiet joy of feeling at home somewhere new.