TravelBoast

How TravelBoast
was created

It all started in 2019. Alexander, a professional 3D designer from the game development industry, was planning a trip across Europe with his wife Olga. She asked him to create a few short videos for social media – a little car moving across a map, tracing their route.

в When the videos appeared online, people immediately started asking: “What app is this?” Of course, there was no app at the time – the videos were the result of painstaking work in a complex 3D editor, far from accessible to the average user. That’s when Olga said: “You have to make this into an app. It will definitely take off!” That’s how the idea was born.

2019

You have to make this into an app. It will definitely take off!

Old connections,
new challenge

It was obvious: to turn complex 3D animation into an app, they needed a strong developer. But that turned out to be a problem – no one took the idea seriously. “A car driving on a map... who would care? That’s boring! What would people even use it for?”

Then Alexander remembered Alexey – a former colleague who had moved to Germany. They hadn’t worked together for over 15 years, but had stayed in touch. That became the beginning of a long journey. Alexey not only believed in the idea – he became the technical heart of the project, turning dreams into working technology.

Within just a few weeks, the first prototype was ready

Doubts and
personal risk

Success didn’t come right away. After launching in September 2019, the app remained largely unnoticed for a year and a half. A borrowed $5,000 spent on advertising ran out quickly and brought almost no results. During the first 20 months, the app was downloaded only 23,000 times, with an average monthly income of just $40 – split between two people.

At the same time, Alexander was dealing with turbulence in his personal life, an unpaid mortgage, and the need to rent a second apartment.

Alexey quit his job to fully dedicate himself to the project. It was a huge risk – giving up stability for an app that wasn’t even popular yet. During the quiet periods, he often wondered whether he should give up and find a regular job to support his family. But he kept coding.

April 1, 2021

And then came April 1, 2021. For over a year, COVID-19 had been spreading across the world. Strict social restrictions were in place. People were stuck at home, with only remote communication and social media to stay connected. Someone came up with an idea: send a loved one an unusual message – a video greeting. Show on a map how one person runs toward another in a virtual world, since it wasn’t possible in real life. What started as a local trend in Eastern Slavic countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) quickly spread beyond borders and began gaining popularity across Europe.

In April 2021 alone, the app was installed 50,000 times – twice as many as in the previous 20 months combined. In May: 100,000 installs. In June: 200,000. In July: 300,000... And in August 2021 came the breakthrough. The app that few believed in just two years earlier was downloaded 1,350,000 times in a single month. Olga was right. It captured the hearts of millions.

1 350 000+

The person installed the app in a month

2021

the trend in social networks

Why the
original
is better

Unfortunately, in the world of mobile apps, as soon as you gain attention, dozens – even hundreds – of clones appear, trying to take credit for your work and belief in the idea. They use your name, copy your mechanics, and even write stories about how they came up with “their” app – which looks exactly like the original TravelBoast. But we believe: a copy can never replace the original.