Traveling far away and not being able to connect with home is a thing of the past.
We travel today with our mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and other devices to stay in touch with family and friends.
You’ll want to stay in touch, whether you’re on business, a vacation with family, a vacation for a gap year, or even a weekend away. Chatting with family and friends, researching restaurants, searching flights and accommodations or simply checking your email and social networks are all things you may need to do.
Unsecured public networks are a risk and can expose you to hackers and data theft. Some countries block certain websites like WhatsApp and Facebook.
A VPN can reduce the risk and inconvenience of using the Internet away from home.
Should you use a VPN for travel?
A VPN service is one that allows you to access the Internet safely and privately while you are traveling.
A VPN protects you against other users stealing your passwords, usernames and credit card numbers.
You can use a VPN to appear to be accessing the Internet from another country, or your own country if it is enabled. You can access geo-restricted sites and video services in your country like Netflix or Disney+. A VPN can be used to bypass country-specific blocking of certain sites like Facebook or WhatsApp.
What is a VPN?
Virtual Private Network is what a VPN is (hence the VPN acronym). A VPN allows you to create a secure internet connection with another network.
Data from your phone is sent to the VPN server. A good VPN encrypts all data sent between the VPN server and your phone.
A VPN can be used on your laptop, desktop, smartphone, tablet (including iPhones, Androids, and many more), as well as other mobile devices.
Keep Your Information Secure
A VPN can encrypt data and protect you from hackers .
A VPN encrypts the data that is sent back and forth between your device. If you use a VPN when using an unsecure public Wi-Fi, anyone attempting to view what you are looking at online can only see nonsense texts. Your information is safe and secure.
Tired of slow WiFi? Find out where to find high-speed Wi-Fi while traveling and read our reviews on SolisWifi and GlocalMe hotspots.
Keep watching your home country’s NETFLIX shows when abroad
Netflix offers different TV shows, movies and music in each country. Netflix may not allow you to watch the same TV shows that you do at home while you are traveling abroad in Europe, Asia or Mexico.
If you are in Germany, for example, and you set your VPN to USA, you will be able watch Netflix in your native language.
ACCESS ONLINE SHOPPING and other Internet services as if you were in your home country
There are many websites that have different versions of their websites for different countries.
Some websites restrict access to specific countries. In Canada, for example, I am unable to view TV shows on websites of TV networks based in the USA. If I set my VPN for USA-based I can watch CBS (a USA TV network) all I want from Canada.
Access Websites that are Blocked
Several governments (such as China and Thailand), censor certain websites such as Facebook WhatsApp and YouTube.
A VPN will allow you to access websites that are blocked by the government and continue to use them as if you were still at home.
PREVENT BANK OR CREDIT ACCOUNTS FROM FROZENING
If a website that holds your investments notices someone from another country logging in to your account, they might think your data has been stolen and place a hold on it. You can still pay your bills on-time by using a VPN.
GET BETTER DEALS WHEN SHOPPING
Booking sites often give different prices in different countries. When booking local tours on your VPN, it may be worthwhile to try out different location options to see if there are better deals before you set foot in the destination country.
How to Choose a Good VPN for Travel
It’s crucial to choose a VPN that is reputable and safe, as a VPN could have access to all of your data.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
In general, VPNs you can get for free are less secure than those that cost money. Many free and cheap VPNs sell advertising or may share your online activity and information with other companies.
Choose a Trusted Company
Newer, smaller VPN services may be cheaper, but their reviews are not as good, and they aren’t as transparent about how they operate. Choose a VPN service that has a large number of reviews and is well-established. This will help you keep your data safe.
MAKE SURE YOUR VPN ENCRYPTS ALL OF YOUR DATA
It’s shocking that not all VPN services will encrypt data. You should ensure that the VPN service you select offers all of the features you need, including encryption between your device and their servers.
Choose a VPN with a Large Choice of Countries
Some VPN services offer only a limited number of countries. This might be a good thing for you. However, the more countries you have to choose from, the less you will benefit from VPN services.
Choose a VPN that does not require logging in
A major advantage of a Private Internet Access is a VPN with a policy of no logs. It’s also independently audited and certified by Deloitte for that extra level of assurance.
The logs may contain your original IP address, new IP addresses assigned by the VPN service, information about your browsing history, websites visited, as well as connection logs that include how long you were online, when you connected, etc. Although a company’s need to hold some information about you is important, the more data they keep on you could cause problems in the event that they are hacked or forced to give it over.
A VPN should be logless and have been verified by an independent audit to not keep logs. NordVPN is a large provider who does not store VPN data and has a logless policy.
