I was planning to name my book The Bicycle Diaries, but sadly, David Bryne has just published a book with that title, so I am searching for a new title. I had to add an “annotation” to the promotional video I just made for my book.
I’ve decided that a core theme of my book is the connections that I’m able to make with people living along the road. Through being vulnerable on a bike and traveling without a windshield, I was able to meet countless people and be invited into their houses. I stayed at well over a hundred different people’s homes during my two years of travel. A friend who read my book said that one of the main messages of the book was about the “basic goodness of humanity.”
On a larger level, I am saying how we are all connected–in this global age, what we do at one end of the world affects people at the far end of the Earth. Through my journey, I physically connected people by bicycling from one house to the next, and I made personal connections by sharing meals or homes.
I want a title that somehow emphasizes these connections and our shared humanity, but of course which does so poetically and subtlety. Maybe it will use the word “chain” to also reference a bicycle. Or “links.” Perhaps something about linking us to the far end of the earth, maybe using the island Tierra del Fuego in the title. Maybe something like “Links to del Fuego,” as I like the idea of linking us to the far end of the Earth, and my bike’s name was “del Fuego.”
The subtitle would still be “A 21,000-Mile Ride for the Climate.”
I’m probably violating some writing ethic by posting a request for book titles, but groups of people usually have better ideas than individuals. Send me an email at david AT rideforclimate DOT com, or post a comment! If you propose the winning title, you will get some type of prize, to be determined.
And here’s the video I talked about before: