Imagine exploring around in the awe-inspiring Roman Colosseum, drinking up its ancient history while someone sneaks your wallet out of your pocket. Or standing atop the Eiffel Tower, taking in the grandest view in the world as someone silently swipes your passport and starts running around Paris under your name. Life-enriching experiences, particularly related to travel, are dashed against the rocks the moment you discover you’ve been victimized. To fully enjoy your travel adventures, you have to first take the target off your back. Here’s how:

Use a VPN when you travel

Somewhere between “Remember phone charger” and “Remember neck pillow” on your pre-flight checklist, add this lifesaver: Set up VPN.

Just as you’ve (hopefully) trained yourself to be aware of your personal space when in a foreign land (read: let nobody get close enough to pickpocket!), these days, you also need to be aware of your digital personal space.

A virtual private network is your passport to freedom. Whenever you’re online, it renders you anonymous by assigning a different IP address and encrypting your data. In short, it keeps the target off your back.

Defends against danger

Cybercriminals prey on strangers in a strange land. They count on the travelers being disoriented. In today’s world, travelers always have their smartphone or laptop with them, and they use them frequently for many reasons, including:

• Booking travel arrangements
• Finding hotels
• Sending emails back home
• Handling online banking and bill-paying

Jumping into a café with free Wi-Fi, or using the open network in the airport or your hotel lobby, is just what the international cybercriminal is hoping you’ll do. He’s already perched on that network, trying to crack into the data of anyone else that joins. If you’re using a VPN, he’s out of luck. You can move around the web and conduct your business calmly and confidently because he can’t touch you on a VPN.

Heartens the homesick

There’s another benefit to using a VPN abroad — it can give you the comfort of home. That show you like to stream before hitting the hay may not be available in other countries because certain streaming services are only licensed to specific regions. But with a robust VPN and some streaming services, you can choose a server from the region you want. You could be sitting in a Barcelona hotel room, but using a VPN server that makes you look like you are back at home in the US.  So now you can keep watching the subscription services you paid for--even if you are traveling abroad. Better yet, for best quality of viewing, select your VPNs streaming content server when watching movies or shows you subscribe to while away from home.

So as you plan your next trip whether for personal vacation or a work trip, remember to allow room for great unexpected surprises…just not with your sensitive data. Use a well-reviewed, trustworthy VPN like Avast SecureLine to protect your digital life while traveling abroad. Set it up on your laptop and smartphone before you embark, and free your mind to enjoy the marvels and wonders that lie ahead.

For mobile devices, you can get Avast SecureLine for Android and for iOS devices.