When I knew I was headed off on another long journey to Africa at the start of this year, I knew I was finally going to have to make the move and invest in a VPN.
Quite frankly, I’d just watched too many scary videos about people stealing my data, my passwords and my money to not get one and, with a growing blog and my income now solely gained from work online, it was a risk I could no longer afford to take!
Plus, of course, travel necessitates the use of unsecured, public wifi.
Even within a hostel or hotel, it’s impossible to know just how many people have access to a network, or quite what their intentions are when they do!
And when travelling in less regulated parts of the world, the risks seem even greater.
And so I set about searching for the best VPN for travel and, you know what?
I think I just may have found it!
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Rated Top VPN for Travel
Enter Nord VPN, which I selected after actually reading this great article from PCMag.
Indeed, these guys rated NordVPN as outstanding and have selected it as the Editors’ Choice VPN for 2 years in a row.
Looking at the article yourself, you can see that Nord VPN is the only service provider to get ticks across all the categories, now you can’t argue with that!
My Choice
It’s no surprise then that Nord VPN immediately stood out for me with its top rating, free trial and huge number of servers across the world.
Because when you’re looking for a VPN for travel this is really important.
You want to make sure that there are servers located close to where you’re travelling so that your connection will be as quick and smooth as possible.
I love that Nord VPN has over 500 servers across the world – in fact they’ve got 2,832 servers located in 59 countries and this number is always growing!
That pretty much means that wherever you end up wandering or holidaying, there’s going to be a secure connection at your disposal.
Perfect for those of us who like to get off the beaten track a bit!
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Free Trial
Biting the bullet and deciding to go for it, I was delighted to see that Nord VPN also offer a free trial, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee when you first register for their service, making a sign-up totally risk-free.
This was a great way for me to get familiar with the tool, using it at home and testing it out, before deciding if it was suitable for me and my lifestyle.
With unlimited bandwidth available and 6 simultaneous connections allowed, during the trial I found NordVPN to be fast, secure and easy to use – exactly the features I was looking for in a VPN for travel.
Easy to Use
Because trust me, despite working online, I’m no techie!
That’s why I knew I need a VPN for travel that was going to be simple and straightforward, and I’m delighted to confirm Nord VPN is all of those things.
With both desktop and mobile versions, across iOS and Android platforms, this VPN is simple to sign into and you can then easily connect to a secure sever at the toggle of a button.
You can save your favourite servers – a feature I love and use a lot for my banking apps, as security alerts don’t flag when I set my server to the UK – and you can also quickly and easily see various servers on a visual map around you to locate what your best options are – a great feature for people on the move a lot.
Finally, you can just auto-connect too, which means you don’t have to do any thinking and NordVPN selects the best server for you at that time.
Top Security
What’s also crucial for any VPN service, of course, is security and for those of us travelling, perhaps for a while, we want to rest easy that our bank details, Paypal details, tax details, passport details and any other sensitive information is being kept secure.
Based in Panama, NordVPN falls under the country’s jurisdiction and Panama has no data retention laws.
As such they operate a strict no logs policy, ensuring user privacy and security is always maintained.
They never log user activities and employ military-grade double encryption to ensure top level privacy and security.
Now if that’s not peace of mind, I’m not sure what is!
Customer Support
I can personally vouch for their excellent customer service after a problem I had with my auto-renewal billing caused me to be charged twice.
Hopping straight on the 24/7 live chat support from Ethiopia (of all places) I was quickly and efficiently helped so that the issue was resolved in a matter of minutes.
And if live chat ain’t your thing, then there’s multiple other ways to contact with them too for assistance including email and a 24/7 ticket system.
Global VPN Use
So right across Africa, Middle East and Europe, I’ve so far been using my NordVPN without any further problems.
Occasionally, the use of the mobile app does slow down the connection slightly, but when you’re online in many African countries and the connection can be poor at the best of times, this really isn’t a huge surprise!
More than speed however, I LOVE that NordVPN offers servers that are both reliable and consistent.
The fact they show the real-time load for each server is a really great feature that helps me massively with speed issues when trying to connect from far-flung corners of the globe.
And with a CyberSec feature that blocks dangerous websites and helps me avoid annoying ads, as well as an automatic kill switch that can kill individual processes or kill my whole internet connection – it’s all round genius!
Supporting all major platforms and devices, there’s no doubt in my mind that these guys provide the best VPN for travel!
In fact, NordVPN is one of the few providers that unblocks all major streaming services like Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer!
What did I tell you, perfect for nomads and holidaymakers everywhere!
Great Value
And what’s more, it’s great to know that NordVPN is incredibly great value.
For a budget traveller like me, this is key and, as soon as my free trial was over, I immediately signed up to an auto-renewal 2 year plan.
With this deal, NordVPN, costs just $3.29 a month.
And for the peace of mind alone, there’s no doubt it’s worth every cent!
So why, not check out NordVPN for yourself now!
Learn more about NordVPN’s great service HERE!
More Recommendations
And in case you needed any more convincing, it’s not just me recommending NordVPN!
Nope, CNN, Forbes, Yahoo and TEDx all give them the thumbs up too.
In fact, NordVPN is featured on all tech giants’ websites, with VPNMentor choosing it as the Best VPN Overall and TechAdvisor selecting it as the best VPN overall in 2018 too.
So if you’re looking for the best VPN for travel, why not give their FREE trial a go?
Check out it out RIGHT HERE!
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And what, pray, is a VPN?
Ha Ha Leo, you island lifer you! It’s a Virtual Private Network – basically a service that provides a secure, encrypted connection directly between you and a secure server. No nasty hackers etc can get in!
That’s super cool you brought up the security question. I’ve traveled more than 20 countries without even thinking I am in any danger while using a public wifi. I am naive, I know. Will get NordVPN for my next travel!
Honestly Alyssa it’s such a great product – I’m a big fan!
Hey, Steph, it’s so lovely to see that you like the same stuff. I’m always recommending VPNs (specifically Nord) for my friends who travel frequently. For me, it’s one of the most reliable services I’ve ever tried, the price could be lower… but I think it’s important to invest in our privacy.
Could not agree more Daniel – love the Nord service, peace of mind and professionalism. Good to know our important stuff is safe!
I always use PureVPN when travelling abroad. Moreover I have their addon called dedicated ip vpn which gets me connected to a similar ip location every time I use vpn. Worth a try!
Thanks Nick this is handy to know.
Thank you for sharing a great blog
thank you 🙂
It is however a good choice for the expats but in most of the cases dedicated IPs are the only way out to carry out the tasks like Online banking and watching TV channels.
I also uses Dedicated IP of UK of PureVPN to watch UK Specific channels but for other cases I use Nord.
Thanks for joining the discussion Emma, your comments are really useful for other travellers. Best, Steph 🙂
I use PureVPN when travelling abroad. Moreover I have their addon called dedicated ip vpn which gets me connected to a similar ip location every time I use vpn. Worth a try!
Thanks for the tip Angelina. Best, Steph 🙂
Thank you for sharing a wonderful Blog. I have 1 questions which VPN is best for me ?
I recommend Nord VPN as per the article 🙂