A couple has completed a tiring 4,500-mile bike ride around Europe in the shape of an enormous bicycle, in a creative attempt to promote sustainable travel.

Accompanied by their dog Zola, David Smith, 35, and Arianna Saraghi, 40, rode through seven countries to create the striking image, motivated by their desire to raise awareness about climate change. After completing their 7237-kilometer journey earlier this week, the pair said they had narrowly beaten the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing made by any mode of transport.

They are also, unsurprisingly, confident that they have traced the biggest ever GPS bicycle, estimating that theirs is roughly 600 miles wide. “Being able to see it on^ the map is mainly a relief,” Ms Saraghi said after recounting the problems they had along the way.

They initially set off in the summer of 2019, armed with a computer-designed route which they had followed to avoid cycling through Paris’Charles de Gaulle Airport. However, they were forced to stop after Ms Saraghi sustained a knee injury.

The Anglo-Italian couple tried again that winter, before giving up because it was too cold to camp. The Covid-19 pandemic then delayed the trip’s completion by another two years. “We had so many obstacles. When we started this time we were thinking—what can go wrong this time? We felt we had let people down by not completing it, and our life felt kind of stuck. So we’re very happy,” Ms Saraghi said.

The pair said they want people who see the GPS image to consider cycling shorter journeys rather than choosing to drive. “Cycling is cheaper, it’s healthy, it’s fun, and it’s often pretty fast. Please give it a second and consider if there is an alternative to the car- there may not be, but often there is,” Mr Smith told The Independent. The 35-year-old added that they also hope politicians, who come across their GPS bicycle are motivated to improve cycling infrastructure (基础设施) to encourage the public to travel sustainably where possible.

When Armida Armato’s daughter，Alexia，came home from school one day last year，keen to go on a school trip to Ecuador，Armato wasn’t too sure how to feel. She was happy that her daughter could experience something she never did as a teen but was fearful of letting her travel to such a remote part of the world.

Alexia was 16 at the time，a student at Westwood High School. The school sponsored a humanitarian (人道主义的) trip for 26 students and two teachers to spend 18 days living in a mountain village to build a one-room school.Even though Armato trusted her daughter，the other students and the teachers，she was worried about the side effects from the travel vaccines，possible accidents，and medical care.

Now that Alexia was home，Armato said she saw her daughter’s new maturity，greater confidence and independence. “This is the best thing I ever did，” Alexia said. “The experience was so eye-opening and life-changing. You’re with people who are not as lucky as you are. They live in very poor conditions but they’re so happy and outgoing. You say，‘My God. I’m taking everything for granted back home.’”

She said they built a one-room school from scratch with no mechanical cement mixers. They used their hands，shovels and basic tools. She and another student lived with a local family in a small village about eight hours outside the capital，Quito. Despite the initial strangeness and knowing only basic Spanish，she said they grew very close and felt like a family.

Every year，groups of students at Montreal High School like Alexia pack their bags and fly off with classmates and teachers to developing countries where they volunteer for a variety of projects.

“Armato’s worries are very common among parents，” says Bill Nevin，a teacher at St.George’s High School. He organises a humanitarian trip to India to the Sheela Bal Bhavan orphanage and says the three biggest fears families have are health，security and contact.

Love, joy, and the warm feeling of pulling together to get through tough times don’t cost a thing. But gifts do cost money. So, what’s a poor family to do?

When Christmas season rolled around again, I told my mother that the only thing I wanted was a pogo-stick (弹簧单高跷). However, my mother told me they were too expensive and that we simply couldn’t afford one.

On a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks before Christmas, my mom and dad told me we needed to go to Sears to pay our-credit card bill. While my mother and I were at the counter paying the bill, my dad said, “I’ll be right back — I need to see something in the tool department.” A little later, my dad came back with a long box. I remember wondering at that very moment if it was a pogo-stick in that box.

When we arrived back at home, my dad put the box in the garage. While my parents were busy with their chores, I quietly walked out to the garage and found the box. I was so excited and I knew that as soon as I opened that magical box my bright, shiny pogo-stick would appear. No such luck! Inside the box was a silly old broom. And so Christmas morning was both great and disappointing. I got some nice gifts but I didn't get the present that I really wanted.

After all the wrapping paper was cleaned up my dad said he needed to tend to something in the garage. When he came back in, he was carrying a beautiful pogo-stick. I couldn’t believe it! My parents probably got quite a laugh from the trick they played on me.

Although we didn’t have much money, my parents gave me the most important gift of all: lots of love. My dad worked hard to provide for us and my mother knew how to stretch a dollar. That was over 60 years ago and I still think about those wonderful Christmas memories every year during the holiday season. My parents were the best and I will never forget all the joy they brought into my life.