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Lauren Elyse Matison
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Lauren is the co-founder and editor of offMetro.com, an online travel guide featuring car-free getaway ideas from Manhattan and San Francisco. Her work has appeared in various magazines and websites, including Los Angeles, Cosmopolitan, Grist.org, Hearst, BizBash, and PeterGreenberg.com. You can also find her travel segments on NBC's Today in NY show.

Blog Entries by Lauren Elyse Matison

CBS Travel Editor's Favorite Car-Free Adventures

(0) Comments | Posted July 10, 2012 | 7:00 AM

According to a recent TripAdvisor survey, 71% of travelers vowed to lighten their vacation's carbon footprint in the coming year. But what does this mean to most people? Just choosing a hotel that won't wash your linens is barely lifting a pinky yet alone a green thumb. If...

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10 Best Views Of The San Francisco Skyline (PHOTOS)

(2) Comments | Posted March 6, 2012 | 6:00 AM

From an island hike to a cantilevered café, these 10 spots around the San Francisco Bay all offer a little adventure and a lot of skyline.

For more great getaway ideas from the city, visit offMetro SF, a new travel site launching this month.

Additional reporting...

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Top 12 Social Media Apps For Travel

(1) Comments | Posted February 21, 2012 | 7:45 AM

You may like to vacation without guidebooks and Google maps, but don't let the thrill of discovering a destination on your own keep you from checking out these 12 social travel apps.

Your next adventure will be all the more memorable, affordable and inspiring because of them.

-- Research...

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Denmark May Hold the Secret to Happiness

(9) Comments | Posted November 22, 2011 | 1:18 PM

It was 63 degrees this past Sunday in NYC. Some people thought picnic in the park, and others, what a lovely side effect of global warming. Climate change almost canceled Thanksgiving and with news out yesterday that greenhouse gases hit record levels in the world's atmosphere,...

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Knowledge Is Power: Experts Share Easy Tips to Help You Eat Better, Save Our Planet [SLIDESHOW]

(0) Comments | Posted October 6, 2011 | 5:45 PM

Before attending the NYC Wine & Food Festival's "Dining Sustainably" panel last Saturday, I was sure I had the eco-chick shtick down pat. Before hearing what four smart, successful, and environmentally enlightened women had to say, I would have expected Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr. to praise my super...

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16 Dirt Cheap Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2011

(1) Comments | Posted April 1, 2011 | 4:46 PM

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Every April 22, we are reminded to do something good for the planet. The rest of the year, our relationship with Mother Earth might better resemble the one between the boy and the Giving Tree in Silverstein's book. As a human...

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13 Green Gifts That Give Back to the World (PHOTOS)

(1) Comments | Posted December 7, 2010 | 11:40 AM

Still haven't found what you're looking for? Consider these 13 green gifts that are good for the environment and give back to local economies around the globe.

(And if you need even more ideas, consult offManhattan.com's gift guides for adventurers and New Yorkers.)


...

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14 NYC Bloggers Do the Holidays (So You Can Relax and Enjoy Them)

(0) Comments | Posted December 1, 2010 | 11:05 AM

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While the holidays can create a happy sort of stress, no one looks forward to the barrage of email blasts, pop-up ads, tweets, commercials, magazines and mothers telling you where to shop, what to cook, why to go for this airline...

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Eco Escapes: 10 Hotels Around the World Plant Trees For Guests

(2) Comments | Posted November 10, 2010 | 6:12 AM

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While the GOP (Gas Our Planet) leaders continue to prance proudly about the hill and lock horns over the top energy committee positions, we GOP (Green Our Planet) bloggers shudder to think how climate bills are sure to suffer...

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Vive le Vélo! America Needs A Bike Ambassador, and a French Lesson

(4) Comments | Posted June 2, 2010 | 8:33 AM

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Bikes have replaced berets as the "it" accessory in France. The two-wheeled vehicles may be chic and eco, but this is not why locals ride them. It's because bikes are cheap and they are everywhere. In May, while on assignment for a...

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Seeing the World Through Green-Colored Glasses: My Interview with Ed Begley Jr.

(1) Comments | Posted May 5, 2010 | 4:37 PM

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This image of the blond bespectacled actor on his bike is something of a childhood memory for me. I grew up within a mile of Ed Begley Jr. in Los Angeles, and I still get warm fuzzies thinking about how he and I...

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7 Easy Ways to Green Your Wedding

(7) Comments | Posted April 13, 2010 | 3:27 PM

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This day is supposed to be the most beautiful day of your life. It also happens to be one of the most egregiously un-green traditions we have. I didn't even realize this--and I run a green travel website--until my boyfriend...

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6 Green Ways to Celebrate DC's Cherry Blossom Festival

(4) Comments | Posted March 17, 2010 | 10:51 AM

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Since the spring of 1912, people have stopped in Washington D.C. to smell the cherry blossoms. Last year, over one million tourists came to the nation's capital to enjoy the gift from the Japanese government 97 seasons after the first trees were...

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What to Eat This Spring: An Interview with Hudson Valley's Fare Lady

(0) Comments | Posted March 11, 2010 | 4:08 PM

After months of slushy streets, heavy stews, and stubborn colds, I was feeling more than ready to talk about a fresh new season when I called up Laura Pensiero, nutritionist and author of the recently published Hudson Valley Mediterranean. She also happens to own the popular restaurants Gigi Trattoria and...

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