Q: Why do all airlines, cruises and hotels advertise just the basic price, such as bargain $99.99 per flight, and/or all-inclusive $199.99 a night at the Podunk Resort? With add-ons, the actual amount you pay is usually $50 higher or more. Bill K, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

A: You’re right, Bill, of course, but that’s the old snake-oil-salesman method to peddle today's products and services. Another example, you buy a car advertised as “$1,500 cash back with your purchase”. The receipt may show that amount as your savings, but actually it was already factored into the price.

Didn’t we see the prototype of a brainless cabbie in the 1976 Robert De Niro movie, Taxi Driver? Uber recently announced it’s experimenting with a Ford Fusion Hybrid driverless car in Pittsburgh.

The ride-sharing, cabbie-shunning company that would have driven Travis Bickle even more insane is encouraged. Its prototype car is operating successfully on mean city streets. Of course, unlike Bickle’s troubled brain, the driverless car is equipped with sensors, radar, laser scanners and high-resolution cameras.

However, don’t expect to ride-share a Uber car very soon. The company says it’s still experimenting. The driverless car operating in current testing actually has an alert human guy by the wheel ready to take over just in case. Stay tuned for further developments.

Seasoned citizens, after decades of raising kids, pursuing careers and tackling other tough responsibilities, look forward to their sunset years. The typical dream is relaxing on sunny beaches, leisurly watching the waves and sipping well-earned drinks.

Then, after a few months of doing nothing, many seniors realize that retirement shouldn’t be the end of an active life. Today, most can look forward to another 20 or more productive years. According to recent studies, life expectancy in the U.S. is now almost 79. In other countries, including Italy, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Canada, it’s into the 80s.

When roaming the world, do you ever get the urge to break away from the usual restaurant seating for two or four? Instead, it could be fun to join a group of up to 10 strangers at one table, all hosted by talented and friendly private chefs in their own homes.

Dine on fine Italian food in a Roma villa, enjoy fish and chips with a London family, sit down to dinner with a Russian babushka borscht expert or enjoy a New Orleans meal with a crawdad chef. Consider a sumptuous family-style dinner in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

When your travel schedule is being put together, and you would like to try the home-cooking experience, go to MealSharing.com to find those welcoming homes.