Instead, she veers off into a discussion of all the things she’ll do when she’s no longer secretary of state, and there’s time. That led to a mention of her favorite television shows, which are all about house buying and home improvement.

Her top pick is “Love It or List It,” in which a couple who are unhappy with their current residence gets to look at new houses while a decorator rehabs their old place. The plot arc is always the same, and in a way, it’s sort of Clintonesque. The redecorators find termites or a leaky furnace; the house search goes awry. Everybody’s upset! But after a lot of hard work and the final commercial, there’s a happy ending.

“I find it very calming,” she said.

Clinton sounded relaxed and cheerful in the way of people who are in a good mood despite a severe lack of sleep. She was sitting in the little room that serves as her private space on the secretary of state’s plane. It’s a modest accommodation for the nation’s Traveler in Chief — barely big enough for a table and a small sofa/daybed. You’d think somebody who puts in her kind of hours would get a little plusher ride. During her day in Peru she had given several speeches and multiple TV interviews, toured a textile factory, taken part in a conference on women’s empowerment and spent an evening with President Ollanta Humala and his wife, Nadine Heredia.

“It was a long dinner, but it really was a good conversation,” said Clinton earnestly, describing the president, his wife and the other officials she’d talked with, including the Peruvian minister of development and social inclusion, who she termed “very savvy.” Clinton is from the personal relationship school of foreign policy. Her approach to day-to-day diplomacy is not unlike the way she found her footing as a candidate for the United States Senate. Remember the listening tours? Lots and lots of listening tours.

Image Gail Collins Credit... Earl Wilson/The New York Times

“So, last night at dinner we sat down and had drinks — there were only like 8 or 10 of us — and we just talked,” she said, recounting the evening. “When somebody comes along like him who has good values, really does care about what he’s talking about, there’s no substitute for just time spent one on one in small groups.”