Having been fortunate enough to be selected as a 2019 Smith & Nephew Travelling Fellow, I decided to look into the history of this prestigious programme. The fellowship was established in 1981 after numerous discussions within the South African Orthopaedic Association during the late 1970s.1 The first fellow, Dr Daneel Heyns, was selected by Prof Roelie Grabe of Pretoria. Since that momentous day, a total of 92 orthopaedic consultants and registrars have completed the fellowship. The list of past Travelling Fellows includes four past South African Orthopaedic Association Presidents (Table I), three current heads of South African orthopaedic departments and numerous past heads of South African orthopaedic departments.