Q: My friend and I plan a trip to Italy. We’re single, professional women in our 50s, and some of our past experiences concern us. On a trip to Rome several years ago, while visiting the Spanish Steps and Colosseum, we were harassed by aggressive male locals. The same thing happened in Venice and Pisa.

At first, we were flattered at the attention by young men to two middle-aged tourist women. However, we’re concerned that on our upcoming trip the advances could become personal attacks or robbery. That’s especially when we venture out of the hotel at night to go to restaurants. What do you recommend? Ms. LLB, Chicago IL

It’s called voluntourism, involving signing up for a trip that combines the pleasure of travel with the satisfaction of helping people. With this year’s terrible record of hurricanes and forest fires, senior travelers can pitch in and help where most needed.

For example, combine a Caribbean cruise or vacation to stay and help rebuild homes in Puerto Rico, Haiti, South Florida and other areas devastated by the hurricanes. Also, with the continuing deadly forest fires in Northern California, volunteers are needed to help those left homeless and other necessary aid.

When making your travel plans, check with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Intrepid Travel, your hometown travel agency and other organizations. They’ll provide continuously updated info on when and where you’ll be most needed on your next trip.

Q: My partner and I are a gay couple, and we’ve traveled extensively throughout the world. Because we don’t hide our relationship, we frequently have booking problems in countries with strict sex laws, such as China and Russia.

Now we’re planning to join a group trip with some destinations in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. How can we make this a trouble-free experience? PLJ, West Palm Beach FL

After a meal or overnight experience, many senior travelers are inundated with online requests to post favorable comments on social media websites. Of course, that’s OK if you do it voluntarily following an especially good experience. However, the beancounters who promote those businesses now consider the internet a fantastic free advertising tool.

As a recent customer, your happy comments encourage travelers to patronize that hotel or restaurant. Therefore, when you’re being pressured online to write favorable words on social media, realize you’re creating free advertising without any compensation. Of course, if you have a particularly bad experience … such as bugs in your bed or flies in your soup … feel free to blab it angrily on social media.