The curse of having range is this: you’re always in the right place, just not in every place at once.

While GWM South Africa was in Muldersdrift marking 18 years with FAM FEST, music carried through Syringa Park and engines hummed in the background, I was elsewhere. At HYROX, choosing discipline over indulgence, sweat over sunsets. Hybrid athlete logic. Commitment was honoured, but the FOMO refused to stay quiet.

I had been invited to GWM FAM FEST and couldn’t make it, so I sent a trusted friend in my place and experienced the day through fragments: voice notes, videos, updates delivered with enthusiasm and just enough detail to hurt. The kind that confirms you missed something special, not something staged.

From everything I gathered, FAM FEST struck a rare balance. It felt like one of the biggest gatherings of the season, and simultaneously like something personal. Unforced. Intentionally relaxed. The kind of event that doesn’t need to announce itself loudly to be felt deeply.

What stayed with me most and genuinely stung to miss was the 4×4 driving experience. Not presented as a showpiece, but as an invitation. Cars taken off the page and placed into motion. Terrain, control, momentum. Driving as feeling, not function. That emotional relationship we build with cars lives here, and by all accounts, GWM understood that instinctively.

Then there was the music, where the FOMO peaked.

MiCasa live is always a moment. These Streets carries shared memory, and missing that in a sunset setting felt personal. Kamo Mphela remains an artist I’m yet to experience live, and hearing about the energy she brought only cemented the regret.

What FAM FEST appeared to do effortlessly was allow the vibe to become the focus. Nothing overproduced. Nothing forced. Just enough structure for the day to breathe. Music, cars and conversation co-existing naturally, without explanation.

At 18 years in South Africa, GWM didn’t need to prove anything. “FAM FEST felt like a brand comfortable in its footprint, confident enough to celebrate without spectacle” my friend mentioned, a quiet confidence grounded in loyalty, lifestyle, and lived experience.

As for me, I’ll stand by my HYROX decision. Growth demands sacrifice.

But next time? I’m choosing the drive, the music, and that MiCasa moment you can’t experience through someone else’s phone.

Because the curse of having range isn’t ability, it’s knowing you could have done it all, just not
all at once.