Not many remember way back when commercial flying was a dress-up affair. Can you recall photos of glamorous Hollywood couples, all ready for their close-ups, as they emerged from their 10-hour flights?

For example, arriving in Hollywood from London, Sir Laurence Olivier and wife, Vivien Leigh, ascended the metal stairway as if dressed for a movie premiere. Today's air travelers are much less formal than those long-ago icons of the silver screen.

Guest senior traveler: My best in San Francisco are the Fairmont, the Mark Hopkins, the Palace and the Westin St. Francis. They're among the oldest hotels in the famed city, but are still wonderfully five-star, luxurious places to meet, sleep, drink, dance, romance and dine.

The Mark Hopkins is perched atop Nob Hill across the street from the equally classic St. Francis. If you get a room with a big window or balcony overlooking the city and the Bay, it's worth sitting there sipping a drink just to enjoy the view, whether dawn, day, twilight or night.

The Top of the Mark is a restaurant/nightclub/meeting room suite on the hotel's highest floor, and serves as a last hurrah for Navy guys before they ship out. When they return, it’s also traditional to celebrate their survival again at the Top.

When we think of Uber, we remember Rodney Dangerfield’s oft-lamented cry, “I don’t get no respect!” The taxi-like service that hires individual car owners to deliver passengers is very successful in many parts of the world.

However, outcries from traditional taxi companies and individual complaints are constantly casting shadows over Uber’s services and drivers. The most prevalent gripe is that Uber isn’t required to follow the strict hiring, licensing and insurance regulations that taxi drivers must have. In some cities, Uber has been cited for various offenses or totally banned.

Remember the opening line of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel: When you walk through the storm, hold your head up high, and don't be afraid of the dark..." If planning to travel alone, forgot those lyrics! For single senior travelers, don't ever walk alone, and be afraid of the dark.

The world today is a far more dangerous place than it was decades ago during your student days. Then you could backpack safefly alone just about anywhere. Places in Paris, Manhattan, Golden Gate Park, Acapulco and Marrakesh were open and friendly.