I WENT ON HOLIDAY WITH A STRANGER

Emma Sandbach, 45, took a risk and went on a Caribbean cruise with someone she met online

- MONICA CAFFERKY

I spotted Katie quickly at the airport in Barbados - she had a big smile and looked exactly like her online photo. As I waved across the arrivals hall, and we walked towards each other. I suddenly felt a bit nervous. 'What on earth am I doing? flashed across my mind, and reality set in that I was about to go on holiday with somebody I'd never met before a complete stranger. I'd come across Katie on a global travel website for women only eight weeks earlier, we'd never spoken and had only chatted via Messenger before booking a 10-day Caribbean cruise together.

It might sound crazy, but I knew this new adventure would be good for me although, if you'd told me a year ago that I'd be travelling with a stranger, I never would have believed it.

I worked in public health and I loved to travel in my spare time. But my friends weren't always free to go on trips with me because some had children or other family commitments, and I didn't fancy travelling by myself, much preferring a bit of company.

So, I joined a few travelling buddy groups online in the hope of finding people to join me on trips and share the cost. The thought of travelling with a stranger was a bit daunting, but I figured I could just use the groups to make friends to begin with.

Then in October 2022, a woman named Katie posted on solo female travelers. club that she was looking for a travel buddy for a Caribbean cruise. I messaged her and almost immediately, we got along, bonding over our shared love of travel and adventure.