San Francisco

San Francisco

San Francisco is hills, fog, Mission burritos the size of forearms, and pastel Victorians stacked like dominoes. Karl the Fog has his own Instagram, the cable cars are still mechanically pulled by cables running under the street, and the Pacific shows up at the end of every west-bound avenue. The food is wildly good, the views are theatrical, and yes, you'll get cardio just walking to the corner store.

Denver

Denver is a mile above sea level, an hour from a dozen ski resorts, and surrounded by mountains that make every west-facing window feel like a vacation. The air is dry, the sun shows up roughly 300 days a year, and craft beer is taken seriously enough to have its own annual pilgrimage (the Great American Beer Festival). Green chile is a hill people will die on. The patio season is essentially eternal.