'I turned heartbreak into starting an amazing travel club'

A woman from Kenilworth who started a travel firm giving solo travellers the chance to travel with others says it has now grown to have 15,000 members across the UK.

Emma Hickman, 47, started the firm 'Travel Buddies Holidays' 12 years ago after splitting from her boyfriend at the time. She said her daughter had a baby, and she was left feeling "isolated and lonely".

Hickman said she wanted to go out and enjoy herself, but friends and family were either not in the same circumstance, could not get time off work, had families or different financial situations.

"When I split up from my partner, I was looking for ideas for social groups and that is what made me create the travel club," she said.

The first trip was trip was to the Lake District with 10 people, and now the firm takes groups of people to different destinations around the world. It even has international clients.

"One time a guy went on a cruise in Greece but couldn't swim, but all the girls taught him how to, and he sent me an email saying thank you," she said.

Hickman added that the firm is "really beneficial to so many people for many reasons".

"I think a lot of people [think] if they get divorced, or their partner has an affair, or passes away, it's very easy to feel that you are very isolated and have the whole weight of world on your shoulders – but then you find out that everyone has something going on.

"It's a case of coming together, encouraging each other and supporting each other."

Hickman said she has met friends for her life, her mum is one of the tour leaders and her daughter works in their office in Kenilworth.

She even met her now-husband in March 2023 on one of the group holidays in Jordan.

"A lot of my clients do say that they are happy travelling solo but the hardest part they find is eating on their own in restaurants in the evenings – we arrange group meals every evening and people can come along if they want to."

Hickman said people have made new friends on their holiday trips and go away together.

"One of the loveliest comments from my members was a lady who said it was like travelling with friends you didn't know you had," she added.

The firm runs tours with around 12 people per group as well as a tour leader.

"Experiences are much better shared, there is certainly a need for it and it has been an absolutely wonderful journey," she added.

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