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I'm not in HR, but I had a situation similar to this. My boss asked me to change a doctors appointment to a more convenient time, and I outright refused to do so.

Is travel included in your job description? Or have you suggested the alternatives you think could work? Can someone else go for you this time, or are you the only one who can do what's needed?

I would simply say that your appointments are medical and leave it at that. I think if they pry further, you can say that you're not comfortable disclosing.

If they keep pushing, I would ask HR. Nothing prevents a boss from asking those questions. But you probably don't have to disclose anything you don't want to.

@babycanuck: Is there a compromise where you can't travel this time, but you can next time? And no, they can't ask about your appointments.

@babycanuck: You DO NOT have to say anything other than medical when letting your manager know about the appointments. In the case of the travel it is a little harder, my employment contract implicitly states that travel is required. Luckily my bosses have never pushed the issue and I have been able to shift the travel dates to work with my monitoring schedule. I would say push back and see what happens. Is there someone in HR you could speak with?

@babycanuck: you could maybe even just say it's a time-sensitive medical appointment that your doctor will not let you push back.

If it's not in your job description to travel, I would simply say no, you aren't available to be out of town.

You can always answer with half truths. If it's a male boss something along the lines of "I'm having feminine issues that require appointments at specific times in my cycle. I don't get to pick them. It is a short term issue with fix and I will keep it outside of work as much as possible." Most guys don't want to get into that. If it is a female boss you could do the same thing.