NordVPN at 3.39 dollars a month on the 2 year plan. The expat use case: home country streaming, restrictive country research, unsecured Wi Fi.
Use case 1: home country streaming. A US expat in Lisbon keeping Hulu, Peacock, or HBO Max is geo blocked the moment the local IP shows up. NordVPN US east coast servers route the traffic clean. Use case 2: research in restrictive countries: Dubai, Beijing, Jakarta all block WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, or Telegram. Use case 3: unsecured Wi Fi.
NordVPN May 2026 on the 2 year plan: 3.39 dollars a month, 81.36 billed upfront. 1 year: 4.99 a month. Monthly: 12.99. The 2 year is the only plan that makes financial sense. 7,400 servers, 113 countries, 10 simultaneous devices.
Streaming gets worse year over year as streamers tighten the geo block. 14 of 24 Netflix country libraries we tested returned a proxy error within 60 seconds. For pure speed, Mullvad is faster on European routes. For privacy maximalists, Mullvad and ProtonVPN are better choices.
One email a month. The new city reports, the cost of living refresh, and the comparisons that landed. No tourism boards, no paid placement.