I'm planning a post-university trip, including around eight weeks in China - a fairly wide-ranging trip, not just focusing on Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I would really appreciate advice on how much money I will need. I am also wondering what internal rail travel is like in China (including cost), or whether flights or buses are sometimes preferable?
Lewis, London

Although China is not fantastically cheap, you can get by on less than £25 per day. To do this, use cheaper classes of trains or buses, spend less time in big cities where your money doesn't go as far, eat from street stalls and stay in backpacker accommodation like dormitories, hostels or cheap guesthouses, which abound particularly in south-west China. Over eight weeks, this budget would add up to £1,400 spending money, not including flights. If you could get up to £2,000, you'd be able to fund more expensive jaunts like a flight or train to Lhasa in Tibet. I covered the logistics of travelling to Tibet back in April.

Train is the best way to get around between principal towns and cities. There are a growing number of high-standard day and sleeper services serving key destinations from Beijing such as Shanghai and Xian. In most cases, however, you'll find regular Chinese trains – 'T' or 'K' prefixed services – more than fit for purpose. Many western travellers opt for soft seat class (soft sleeper on overnight journeys), which consists of a four-berth compartment, but the next class down, hard sleeper is much used by budget travellers on longer journeys too, offering six bunks in open compartments. Hard seats on slower trains tend to be the cheapest option but are not much used by visitors as they can be very crowded and noisy. To give you an idea of cost, if you book and pay locally for a hard sleeper from Beijing to Xian, it will cost in the region of £30 one-way. You can get an excellent overview of train services with pictures and fares at Seat61.com.

For long-distance services, you should book a few days ahead if possible (agencies like china-train-ticket.com can help), and expect things to be seriously crowded during Chinese New Year, around May Day and the National Day holiday week around 1 October. Buses will often be cheaper and are not a bad alternative for travellers on a budget, but comfort on long journeys should also be considered. You'll find modern sleeper buses on more popular routes.

We have a week in August when someone can look after our farm for us. We can fly to Jersey from Blackpool on jet2.com for 99p (£73 in all), but would we find it boring, overcrowded and unpleasant? We wouldn't normally dream of going away in August (or going to Jersey for that matter), but it's our only chance of getting a holiday this year and we don't want to go anywhere too hot, too far or too expensive.
Jane Ruthven, by email

Jersey isn't boring – at least I didn't think it was – but I liked the areas away from St Helier better and would recommend staying in St Aubin which is quieter, smaller and has more character. August is, however, peak season so expect accommodation to be more expensive than at other times of year. The Old Court House Inn has doubles from £130 in August.

A week on Jersey may be stretching things, so consider making your trip a Channel Islands tour. Once you've seen the principal museums on the island and Mont Orgueil Castle, you can try your hand at kayaking, windsurfing and cycling. There's also a handsome Victorian sea-fed swimming pool in St Helier. Take a ferry on to Guernsey (condorferries.co.uk; £36 return for foot passengers) where you can explore the lovely cobbled streets of historic St Peter Port, try a spot of surfing at Vazon Bay and visit the island's Shipwreck Museum. Add a day on Sark seeking out hidden beaches and La Seigneurie Gardens and Maze and you have a full and fun week that will leave the crowds behind whatever time of year you travel.

I am a backpacker, currently in Indonesia. Phone calls home are ridiculously expensive and one of my fellow travellers suggested that I sign up for a Skype account, and then my calls will cost only two cents per minute. Well, I did that, and indeed I got a very cheap call and was happy about that. But now I am increasingly worried. I used a public internet shop computer to sign up and am concerned that my Skype account information is accessible to the store's owner or to anyone using the computer. I am even concerned that they can get my credit card information that I used to open the account.
Robb Schwartz, by email

I asked Skype about this, who say that as every account is protected by a unique user name and password, provided you logged out then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Subsequent users of the PC you were using will not be able to access your information. If you left your account logged in, or think you may have, the risk is still low but the best course of action is to change your password and for peace of mind you might also make a call to the card company to check for unexpected activity. There's much more on Skype-specific security at skype.com/security. In general, this is a timely reminder for anyone using internet cafes or public computers to close down their sessions before leaving the PC.

I am looking to book a holiday to either Orlando or Los Angeles for myself, my husband and our seven-year-old daughter, for next April during the two-week Easter holiday. My problem is, I keep reading how it is essential to hire a car in either destination and I am not confident enough to drive in a foreign country. My husband does not drive and I would be happier going somewhere where there is reliable public transport for seeing all the sites. Which destination would you suggest for us?
Melinda Austin, by email

There's no denying that a car is helpful for both destinations, in particular if you're trying to cover plenty of theme parks in a short space of time. However, you can have a superb time without one.

Of the two, Orlando works a little better. Choose a hotel that is centrally located, either on or close to International Drive. Many hotels use the services of a shuttle bus or operate their own to get to and from all the major parks including Disneyworld. Some of these buses visit lots of hotels, so be prepared for slow starts and ends to your journey. There are also public buses (golynx.com) – a particularly useful one is Route 50, which goes along International Drive, passes Sea World and terminates at the Ticketing and Transport Centre for the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center. However, not all Disney park entrances are accessible by public transport and for these you will be reliant on the shuttles mentioned above. If you are planning to concentrate solely on Disney parks, you would be better off opting to stay in a hotel within the park, from where the transport provided is excellent. You'll find it difficult to do much outside of Orlando and the Disney parks without joining a tour, so going to the beach will prove tricky.

Los Angeles downtown is 26 miles from the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, so you might consider dividing your time between family-friendly Santa Monica or attraction-packed Hollywood and staying around Anaheim for Disney. From Hollywood you can easily reach Downtown and Universal Studios by public transport.

• Tom is on holiday next week. Normal service will be resumed with a live Q&A on 23 June.