When Kelly Morrison joined Gerringong’s Travel Focus Group three months ago she pitched a business idea - solo women’s travel tours - to owner Peta Godfrey.

ROAM is a bespoke travel service for adventurous women, travelling alone or with girlfriends, which focuses on good food, good company and lots of laughs.

Kelly, an avid explorer whose love for travel began in the late 1980s and has taken her across the globe many times over, created the concept after years of fun adventures, sometimes solo, sometimes with family and friends.

Kelly quickly learned “wine tastes better with girlfriends” and Peta knew Kelly was onto something.

Who wouldn’t want to travel with like-minded women on tours with no mental load required, where all the organisation is done for you and the only person you have to think about is yourself.

Kelly hosted a breakfast meeting this week, not only to get the word out about the services offered by ROAM, but to also tap into the wealth of expertise shared by female travellers.

She held the meeting on a Tuesday because “at least one of my friends was off so I knew she’d come along”.

The event coincided with one of the most severe weather fronts – an East Coast low – to hit the South Coast in recent times.

Despite the 150mm of rain that fell across the region, more than a dozen intrepid female travellers turned up to share coffee, croissants and ideas for future adventures together.

“We had 15 lovely ladies brave the wind and rain to join us for our inaugural breakfast,” says Kelly.

“Some were single and wanted adventures with other like-minded women, some were girlfriends who wanted to travel together but without the mental load of having to organise an itinerary and, interestingly, we had quite a few married women whose husbands are too busy or don’t want to travel.”

All of the women who attended had one thing in common - their idea of a great holiday aligned with ROAM’s beliefs of slow travel, enjoying the location, leisurely mornings and small-group tours.

“Our solo women tours are all about slowing down and savouring the journey,” says Kelly.

“There are no crack-of-dawn wakeups or rushed schedules. We don’t do alarms unless it’s for pastries!

“Delicious food is a big part of the ROAM experience, there are no sad salads allowed. We also offer meaningful cultural experiences, rather than rushed tick-a-box, buy the fridge magnet tours.

“You can explore at your own pace and yes, you can skip the museum for wine if you want to.”

ROAM’s first tour, in November, will be held in New Zealand and include good food, fine wine, a health spa and jet boat ride. But there are many more adventures on the horizon.

“We had a wide range of interests at the breakfast, with women suggesting tours to Africa, Italy, Vietnam and even a pub crawl through Ireland and Scotland,” says Kelly.

“There was a common theme of going to a location, such as Italy, and staying for a few weeks in one place and becoming part of the community.

“Some of the activities that were of interest included cooking classes, art retreats and hiking tours such as the Camino trail. Everyone wanted off the beaten track, with travel outside the main tourist season that is unique and authentic.”

If this sounds like your kind of globetrotting visit ROAM on the Travel Focus Group’s website. You can join the mailing list to stay up to date with upcoming tours and sign up to join waitlists.