Favorites of a Road Warrior

I have spent the past 24 hours in dreary New Jersey. This trip can be very typical of my life on the road. I wake up early (4 AM), catch a flight across the country, arrive in destination, sleep, meet with customers the next day and catch a flight back home. My hotel in NJ was sandwiched between two interstates and my room had a perfect view of the Manhattan skyline about 10 miles in the distance. It was torture being in NJ and not in NYC.



The trip has made me think about how New Jersey has got to be one of the worst places for a business trip. So I've complied a short list of my favorite and least favorite places to travel on business. Here they are:

My Favorite Places for Business Travel

1. Italy - It's tough selling Italian made cookware (really- it is) but annual visits to our factory somehow eases it a bit.
   
2. New York - Great city but very expensive - it's always nice when the company pays the bills


3. Bentonville, AR - Home of Wal-Mart- I feel like an anthropology student in rural Arkansas. Hillbillies wearing bib overalls driving old Chevy trucks are for real! The picture below is the corporate office of the world's second largest company!

Honorable mentions go to Costa Rica and Miami- both places with great food, color, and life.

My Least Favorite Places for Business Travel

1) New Jersey - I think the state lacks character and has confusing highways and unfriendly people

2) Las Vegas - Too hot, too crowded, and unexciting, but unfortunately the place of many trade shows.

3) Portland, OR- (Sorry Mikael) Everytime I am there it's raining. Three years ago I arrived during the worst snow storm in a decade. The "gorge" froze over and I was stuck in an airport hotel for 3 days!

On Saturday I'm off to Orlando. I've only been there one time for less than two days. It was not enough to make a judgement. I'll have to let you know if it makes either list.