Some observations after spending 3 days in New York City a few weeks ago for a business trip.

The best way to totally throw a customer service worker for a loop in NYC: say “Hi! How are you today?” and mean it. This will either 1) make their day or 2) convince them you are casing the joint and will be back soon to try and rob the place.

A fine mist of cortisol and adrenaline fills the air in the subway system during morning commute times. The level of stress in those tunnels is staggering.

Everyone in the city has something else going on. IT guys are musicians. Actors on Broadway are also working their tails off during the day on other projects. Grad students have gigs as comedians. A boost in hustle and ambition seems to come with getting a New York driver’s license.

I had no idea that real estate is the topic that binds New Yorkers together. It makes sense though. When you’ve got 8.3 million people as of 2013 in the five boroughs (which are only 321 square miles), staking your claim is important. It’s a tight fit. The US Census Bureau estimates the population of Colorado in 2013 at 5.2 million and we’re spread over 104,185 square miles. We’ve got a little bit of elbow room.

You live in one of the best food cities in the world. The diversity and availability is amazing. Out here, getting a table at Applebee’s at 9:45 pm constitutes an adventurous night out.

At the same time, your inability to cook your own food is also amazing. I remember a ski trip with some of my brother-in-law’s pals from New York. I made myself a quesadilla for lunch one day and added some cumin, chili powder and garlic to jazz things up. My knowledge of the spice rack filled one of my new NYC friends with a combination of awe and suspicion. The common retort to this is “why learn to cook in NYC?” I get that. Still, I think it’s like learning to tie a tie. You may not need it very often but it’s nice to know you can.

You live in the collective imagination of the rest of the country. You see Times Square and think “tourist hell mouth.” Times Square to the rest of us is New Year’s Eve, the Today Show and 100s of other movies and TV shows we’ve seen over the course of our lives.

Geography is important in NYC. I stayed in the Upper West Side and commuted to Williamsburg during the trip. The 45 minutes I spent on the 1 and the L to cover about 9 miles is the same amount of time it takes me to drive 36 miles to get to work in Colorado.

Life in NYC is vertical. I can see the City of Golden from the parking lot of Denver International Airport. That’s a distance of about 30 miles. Getting to see more than 3 blocks in Manhattan is a heck of a view.

Successfully managing to make it to your 40s without learning how to drive is entirely possible in the Greater New York area because you can walk to everything. Here? You can’t get to the mall or get a job without a car.

Basically, New York City when you’re 41 and have lived in Colorado your entire life feels like an insanely attractive and fun girlfriend you’re never going to settle down with because she’s also insanely loud and demanding. If I moved to the Big Apple in my 20s and put down roots like a lot of New Yorkers who didn’t grow up in NYC have done, maybe things would be different.

I *Heart* NY—but in small doses that are followed by a full day spent outside in the thin and bone dry Colorado air.