Subjective Review: The Best Cities to Visit as a Young Professional

As a young professional, you may travel often and the destinations can be diverse. Not all destinations are created equal and this has a direct impact on your overall experience. What follows is an entirely subjective review of the cities most worth seeing as a young professional. 

Boston, Massachusetts:

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Why it’s great: Boston is home to several universities as well as a thriving downtown community. This combination has created an incredible night life. Boston’s sports teams and famous arenas add to the fun. The city itself spirals outward from “the commons”, a large open park in the center of the city. Stay for 4 of 5 days and you’re sure to remain plenty busy with all that Boston has to offer.

Then again: Come armed with cash. Boston is not a cheap town, as is the case with many urban scenes. You’ll most definitely pay your fair share for drinks and transportation. Fortunately, Boston is fairly well connected with public transit to ease the pain. 

Denver, Colorado:  

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Why it’s great: Denver is one of the few places where, within an hour’s drive, you can be in a dense urban setting, high in the mountains or deep in the desert. Denver is located along the edge of the Rockies which creates the perfect venue for a diverse travel experience. No matter what you enjoy doing when you travel, you will find the opportunity to do it in Denver. 

Then again: If you’re not a fan of cold weather than Denver may not be your favorite place on earth. You’re sure to experience a decent amount of snowfall, though accumulation in the city is fairly limited. It’s not until you venture up the slopes that you’ll face many, many FEET of snow. 

San Francisco, California: 

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Why it’s great: The weather alone makes California a great place to visit. San Francisco has the added benefit of a sprawling downtown district that sits on the bay. Sightseeing opportunities are endless and the steep sloping streets made famous by countless movies are even steeper when seen in person. Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Ghiradelli Square and the Disney Museum are just a few of the worthwhile destinations. 

Then again: If you enjoy walking when visiting a new city then San Francisco will challenge you physically. The hills are seriously steep and can be punishing. 

New York, New York: 

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Why it’s great: New York is a city that you just have to see. A visit to Manhattan should be on everyone’s bucket list and there’s no experience like it. The island is stacked from edge to edge with concrete structures where expansion occurs only in the vertical direction. 8 million people pack the city during business hours and nowhere else in the world are venues and attractions packed so densely into a small area. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who says that New York is not worth the trip. 

Then again: It’s dirty, smells bad and everything costs a fortune. Still worth it, but don’t expect NYC to parallel a pristine island resort. It’s a huge, filthy metropolis offering more in terms of experience than you’ll find anywhere else. 

Las Vegas, Nevada: 

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Why it’s great: Have you seen The Hangover? The Vegas experience really isn’t that far off from the scenes depicted in this film. This city is one big party with more to see and do than you could ever cover in one week’s time. Fortunately, if you’ve seen 2-3 of the big casinos, you’ll leave with a pretty decent overview of the total package. Still, for those with more time, Fremont street, the Hoover Dam and the famous “Pawn Stars” shop add to the experience. 

Then again: Everything structure is larger than life and what looks to be a short 5-10 minute walk away is probably more in the range of 45 minutes on foot. If you can land a hotel room at the MGM, a tram is available that will save you a ton of time and walking up and down the strip. 

Runners Up: 

While still worthwhile and enjoyable destinations, they don’t quite stand up to the appeal of those described above. 

  • Toronto
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Orlando, Florida
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Do yourself a favor. Sign up for a frequent flyer number and hotel loyalty program now. The rewards are worth your while.

Wow, You Did Your Job - Want a Cookie?

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Competition in the business world these days is stiff. Should you decide that you no longer value your position, your boss can take comfort in knowing that there are 10 other capable candidates who will gladly take your place. Still, there seems to be a growing sense of entitlement, particularly among young professionals, suggesting that they feel the world owes them something simply for making it through school and showing up to work every morning.

We’ve established a mentality that when bonus time rolls around, we expect the maximum reward if we’ve “done our job”. We expect every perk and incentive that the company has to offer in exchange for doing precisely what was requested of us and then filling the gaps with YouTube videos and Facebook. We expect a raise next year based entirely on the fact that we’ve been with the company for another year.

Let’s get real - pay increases, bonuses and extra incentives are rewards, not entitlements. In Europe, many countries dictate how many vacations days must be awarded to an employee each year, called “Legal Time” - that’s an entitlement. Companies may then offer “Extra-Legal Time” in addition to the minimum allotment - that’s an incentive. It’s important to remember that incentives are discretionary and that, by no means, is your boss obligated to bestow gifts on you just because you continue to work for them. If you’re looking for more, earn it.

To simply do your job is not enough. Your base salary covers the default job description that you accepted when you signed on. You receive X dollars per month in exchange for completing tasks A, B and C completely and accurately. In order to receive more than X, you’re doing to have to do more than just A, B and C. 

For example, say you hold an administrative position at a medium-sized company. The board of directors is having an executive meeting next week and you’re asked to do the following in preparation:
  • A - Book a conference room
  • B - Print the meeting agenda
  • C - Let IT know that a laptop and projector connection will be needed for a presentation

You complete A, B and C that day. Great job, you’ve earned your salary. If you’re looking for more, then consider the following:

  • D - Will the meeting occur at midday and can you offer to have lunch ordered in?
  • E - Are calendar appointments or reminders needed that you can send to the meeting participants?
  • F - Did you follow up with IT to make sure that they have not forgotten part or all of your request?
  • G - Can you contact maintenance to request that the room be cleaned the day before the meeting to make the best possible impression?
  • H - Perhaps deviously, have you let your manager know that you’ve done each of the above tasks to put their mind at ease (and in the interest of a little self promotion)?

Now you’re beginning to earn your keep and, hopefully, that bonus.

When it comes to doing more, assess the value of your additional effort which usually takes one of two forms: 1) saving on time and cost or 2) adding value to the company.

Cutting costs:
  • Keep your eye out for corporate waste like booking a hotel that’s charging double that of a similar accommodation two blocks away just because that’s “the norm”. Can you propose a comparable, more affordable option?
  • Are cases of snacks being thrown out because the standard shipment no longer holds the appeal of the staff? Can you mix up the options and save on cost in the process? 
  • Is that $7,500/month mobile phone bill really the most economical option? Can you spend that extra 30 minutes that you have during the day looking up alternative choices?
 Adding value:
  • Do you see colleagues hand-writing notes that then remain trapped in their notebooks, never to be seen or shared? Can you propose a software solution, something as simple as Evernote, to promote collaboration and sharing?
  • Similarly, do you see opportunities to reduce email traffic or to consolidate correspondence in order to free up time that would otherwise be spent reading one-off messages?
  • The boss is flying for business every 3 days but isn’t a member of an airline or hotel rewards program. Seriously? Can you fix that little problem and politely let them know that they will start being rewarded for their travel?

These are just a few examples and you can surely find dozens more. When you consistently make a focused effort to not only do your job but to improve the state of your company as a whole, someone will take notice. The rewards will likely not come instantly but, if they did would that not just be another entitlement?

iDoneThis blog: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

idonethis:

When we launched a paid version of iDoneThis, we held our breath — we didn’t know if a single person would sign up.

The waiting, the sweat, the nerves.

Finally, the whoosh of a collective sigh of relief. One trailblazer of a person signed up for iDoneThis and put their credit card down.

Amidst…