I dont use fast travel all that much but sometime I due mainly when I dont feal like walking around mountains to get where I want to go, or just dont have the play time to walk from one side of the map to the other though I normally enjoy it for the random encounters.

One thing I hate about fast travel is when I do my horse is right there with me every time, and its a pain is a wanted to sneak into the location I was going as he will dart right at an enemy. I think they need to add a option when you click fast travel if you own a horse that come up with a simple travel with or with out horse option so you can pick if you want it with you or not.

Travel to a nearby site? It's usually just a couple of minutes away.