Kind Traveler is a hotel booking organization that helps travelers give money to charity in exchange for discounts from their bills. For instance, when checking in you can donate toward organizations such as the American Red Cross, Second Harvest Food Bank, Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles or Feeding Southern Florida.

The discounts apply with participating hotels such as Virgin Hotels, The Palms Hotel and Spa and the Mondrian in Los Angeles. With the holiday season approaching, and your travels take you to participating hotels, you can join Kind Traveler in making some deserving people experience a more enjoyable season. www.kindtraveler.com

That security question is on the mind of every senior traveler who has enjoyed frequent visits to Sin City. The fears still linger since the gun maniac killed 59 and injured 500 from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort.

Despite heavy hotel security, he managed to book a room, take the elevator and roam freely through the hotel with 10 suitcases full of guns and ammo. On the other hand …. try to count cards while gambling in a Vegas casino. With dozens of video cameras watching your every move, a squad of security guards will grab you within minutes. But an insane killer full of mental, as well as metal, baggage goes freely to commit mass murder.

Your travel4seniors.com editor has been visiting Sin City for the past half century and more. Following Navy service in the Korean War and living in Los Angeles in the late 1950s, I was invited to the then-new Sands Resort by my high school classmate who was the hotel’s public relations director.

In addition to meeting Sinatra and his Rat Pack, I also experienced the city’s famed buffets for the first time. The average all-you-can-eat charges then at any Strip hotel were $3 breakfast, $4 lunch and $6 dinner. Also, at many times, the $25 nightly charge for a room included at least one free buffet daily. Of course, prices have gone up a tiny bit since then.

After retiring in 1990 and moving from Philly PA to Tucson AZ, I began regular Vegas visits of about four times a year. Buffet prices then averaged $5 breakfast, $8 lunch and $10 dinner. Today’s prices are much higher, and listed at the bothersome .99 rates that are supposed to make you feel they’re lower.

USA Today recently posted an article showing about a dozen travel photo situations the writer considers have become too cliché. Of course, senior wanderers are aware of such familiar scenes as pushing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the selfie stick group shot and forming a finger heart in front of a sunset.

Your travel4seniors.com editor still believes whenever we see a creative new photo situation on our journeys, we should record it to send to family and friends. However, we disagree with the idea that all the old, tried-and-true camera clicks should be forgotten. If you want to pose toppling the Tower of Pisa or get the gang to grin at your selfie stick, go to it!