I typically only travel internationally on business, so the itinerary thing is pretty much a given. I plan minimal stays away from home, so I’m not going to do a lot of sightseeing. I get to where I’m going (and the reason for the visit in the first place) and then get out again as soon as possible. If the travel extends over weekends or there is unscheduled down time (pretty much a given when you visit some parts of the world), then and only then will I attempt to arrange for some impromptu travel. Even then, I’d rather relax in a nice hotel than tax my body too much with gallivanting; I’m not a kid any more.
My first visit to India last year was going to be a 9-day trip, so the Project Director and I had hoped to arrange a weekend hop to Nepal and a flight around Mt. Everest, but that fell through when our in-country travel schedule tightened up. It was also soon after the major bombing in Mumbai, so we decided that the smartest thing to do would be to avoid airports as much as possible (considering that we were going to be in country for 9 days and traveling through various airports on 4 of those days already, we elected to avoid adding two more travel days). In any case, he ended up being sick that weekend, so downtime in the hotel was the best thing all around.
I don’t like travel much any more – and air travel not one bit – which is why I try to minimize it as much as I can and get as much done as possible on the rare trips I do take.
I did manage to figure out a good way to travel to Asia, though: Pull an all-nighter the day before a scheduled early-morning departure, and you’re more likely to a) sleep on the plane (which I don’t do very well) and b) arrive at the hotel ready to sleep in sync with the natives. If I hadn’t caught a cold on the trip I made two weeks ago I’d have been golden. I’m still convalescing from that. It also makes for a leisurely packing job when you start at midnight to be ready to leave the house by 4 AM.