Big Cities, Small Towns, Across Borders: We Go the Distance!

“Do you travel that far?”

It is a question we hear when an event is a long way from the nearest big city. Our answer starts with another question: where are we going?

With more than 10,000 events behind us, we have plenty of stories to tell. The map below shows the part of that journey we can trace to a town or destination in our records. There are many more memories behind entries that recorded only a province.

From Thohoyandou to Tulbagh. From Aggeneys to Atlantis. From Sasolburg to Swakopmund. From busy convention centres to country venues reached by a farm road, SelfieBox has travelled a long way to help people make memories. The map below puts some of that journey into perspective.

A lot more than the main metros

Zoom in around Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town or Durban and the repeat visits soon add up. Those busy clusters matter: they represent years of weddings, launches, celebrations and corporate events. But zoom out again. Look at the places between the cities, along the coast and across the border.

Our travels reach into Limpopo and the Northern Cape, through the Free State, down the Eastern Cape coast and into the towns between the familiar city names. They also cross borders: Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini (Swaziland) are part of the SelfieBox story.

Places with names worth remembering

Phuthaditjhaba. Viljoenskroon. Vierfontein. Vredefort. Fouriesburg. The Free State entries alone read like a road-trip itinerary. Add Bothaville, Reitz and Bethlehem, and it becomes clear that this is about much more than a few stops in Bloemfontein.

The Eastern Cape brings Graaff-Reinet, Qonce, Mdantsane, Makhanda and Cape St Francis into the picture, alongside East London, Gqeberha and Mthatha. One wonderfully memorable venue name in our records is Nevermind, at Seal Point Lighthouse in Cape St Francis. Now that is an address with a story in it!

And then there is Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho, a very different destination from a city convention centre. These are the places that make the map worth exploring: each one represents a reason to pack the equipment and get going.

A destination wedding, a company celebration away from head office, a launch in a smaller town: your venue does not need a Sandton postcode to deserve a great photo booth experience.

Sometimes the booth needs a boarding pass

Some events begin with a packed vehicle and an early start. Others begin at an airport, with equipment cases, baggage allowances and a flight to catch. We have flown with booths, used overnight couriers and arranged last-minute flights to get equipment where it needed to be.

And yes, there has been a trip that ended with a booth arriving with just ten minutes to spare. That is a story we can tell afterwards with a little more breath in our lungs than we had at the time!

Behind those last few minutes are the phone calls, quick decisions and practical work of finding a way to get equipment to the event.

Two 360 Spins booked. One on the arrivals side.

One Maputo event called for two 360 Spins. On the Airlink journey, only one arrived with us. The second did not arrive for the event.

We refunded the client and absorbed the loss. Airlink never reimbursed us, not even for the excess baggage fee.

That was a hard trip. A client had booked an experience, equipment had been checked in, and we were left with a shortfall at the other end. Taking responsibility meant a refund and a direct financial loss for SelfieBox.

It is part of our travel story too. Alongside the overnight couriers and last-minute flights that helped us get equipment to events, there have been occasions like Maputo when we had to carry the cost of something going wrong.

The road has had a few surprises too

There have been broken-down vehicles. Incorrect addresses. Farm roads that seemed to keep going long after we expected to see a venue. And moments when “just follow the pin” turned out to be less helpful than a phone call to someone who knew the area.

If you have ever tried to find the right entrance to a rural property, you will understand why the gate matters as much as the street address. A venue can be perfectly clear to the people who go there every day and surprisingly difficult to find for the first time.

These trips have given us plenty of stories, but they have also reinforced the value of the unglamorous details: a confirmed address, the correct entrance, an on-site contact and a clear understanding of when equipment can be brought in.

The distance is part of the planning

We love the excitement when guests see the booth, step onto a 360 Spin or gather for a photograph. Getting everything to that moment is part of the work. You can see more of that preparation in our behind-the-scenes setup story.

For an event further afield, tell us the town, venue, date and experience you have in mind. We will look at availability and the practical route: which team and equipment can serve the event, how they will travel, and what needs to be included in the quote. Travel, accommodation or cross-border arrangements can affect the plan and cost.

Distance is part of the plan. Share your date and destination, and we will help you explore the right setup and travel arrangements.

Where are we going next?

The most satisfying part of those journeys is not the kilometres. It is arriving at a celebration and seeing people enjoy something we have brought all that way.

We are grateful to God for the opportunities to travel, for the people who have helped along the way and for the clients who have trusted us with their events. Every new destination adds another story, another lesson and another group of people to the SelfieBox journey.

With the year-end season getting busy, now is a good time to share your plans. Whether your event is around the corner or a flight away, send us the venue. Let’s see how we can get the fun there!