OK, you’ve been everywhere and you’re tired of take-out from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant. Now you’re ready for the real thing. You’re considering booking a flight to China. Here are just a few suggestions from a senior tourist who has been there several times. If this is your first time, it’s best to limit your visit to one or two of three main cities: Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Beijing is the capital city, of course, but it is mostly history and Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the Olympic venues. Like Moscow, London and Washington, the Chinese people there are stuffy, bureaucratic and not too interesting. While in Beijing, you can make the required historic tours of the city and take the bus or train out to the Great Wall.

Can you figure out airline costs these days? Looking at the endless price and schedule lists, it’s like shopping at Sam the Sharpster’s used car lot. Including some pricing that seems to be designed to confuse the senior buyer. For instance, while trying to book on American Airlines in March from New York’s JFK or Newark’s EWR nonstop to LAX in Los Angeles, I found great differences in prices. Depending on the time of day you fly, the price for its Economy Super Saver ranges from $139 to $299.

Like most real estate in these tough economic times, condo values have dropped considerably over the past year. In places like Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Hawaii and elsewhere, condo owners and builders need income, and their rental offers may be great bargains. On your next vacation trip, would you rather spend it in a condo instead of a hotel? Of course, you won’t get daily maid service, be able to order breakfast in bed nor have a choice of three or four restaurants just downstairs. However, some advantages of renting a condo may be worth considering.

Remember those frozen winter days not so many years ago, when you couldn’t take all the ice and snow any longer? You stuck that damned shovel into the nearest snowbank, revved up your ‘79 Chevvy and skidded down to the local travel agency. After leafing through the daily newspaper vacation ads and a dozen brochures, you decided to fly to some warm spot, paid the deposit, then skidded back home to pack. Then, maybe a week or two later, you’d be on your way to the airport to board that big TWA 707.