Green maps for five U.S. cities

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

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Google Maps and the Earth Day Network have teamed up to offer interactive Summer of Green maps of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and San Francisco. These maps show the locations of and short videos about eco-conscious destinations such as organic spas, green hotels, eco-car rentals, and nature museums. This is a small-scale but good example of how maps, recommendations, and video together can be a useful planning tool.

I like this idea, and the short videos (find them by clicking on a map point or on a listing) bring these places to life. It would be even better if there were more listings and cities, but this is a good start, and certainly worth checking out.

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