Short vacation before or after business trip

I’m headed to Bangalore again this fall and planning a layover in Doha, Qatar for a few days as part of the travel. I can do so before or after my work week, it’s not going to make a significant difference in price or timing. Given that, would you rather spend the vacation time before the work week or after?

The flight from home to Doha is 12 hours, so if I do the layover first I arrive in the evening after probably a poor sleep on the plane. I would hope to stay awake a bit and try to get on local time that night. If I go straight to India first I arrive at 2:00 AM Sunday morning, go to the hotel, spend Sunday adjusting to local time and go to the office Monday morning. Either way my first day is a little hazy but I think I can deal with it. My assumption is that doing the layover first will make the adjustment to the work week easier, and the reverse as well (work first will make the layover easier).

I’d do the vacation after, just so I could relax more.

Agree with Carol — after the business is done. Be hazy and fight through it on company time, not on vacation time, else you might lose some vacation time being tempted to nap.

I often like taking a little vacation day or three to explore the area. Mostly state-side, I’ve been able to visit 29’ of the 30 MLB ballparks this way, and also explore some of Shanghai, Bavaria, and Sweden.

Another vote for after. I just did a similar think on my last business trip.

I do my vacations after business. I would decline to spend any time or money in Qatar tho. YMMV, obviously.