Tessa Pemberton
Contributor at Unblock Couch
About
I left London in early 2022 for what was meant to be a four-month design contract in Lisbon. The contract ended. I didn't go back. Then a project in Bangkok came up, then Mexico City, and at some point the bouncing between countries stopped feeling like a gap year and started feeling like just how life is now.
The VPN situation grew out of stubbornness. I pay the BBC TV licence. I have done for years. Relocating to a different country didn't feel like a valid reason to give up University Challenge on a Monday night, or the specific BBC documentaries that show up on iPlayer and nowhere else. That was the original reason. It has since expanded to maintaining US libraries when I'm in Southeast Asia, managing iPlayer during the stretches when it randomly stops working in Thailand, and helping my partner keep stable video calls when we're both working from the same rented flat somewhere with ambitious wifi promises.
I started writing about this because every guide I found was aimed at someone deciding whether to buy a VPN at all. I already had one. Sometimes two. What I needed, and couldn't find, was documentation from someone who had lived with these tools week after week across different countries, watched them fail in specific and annoying ways, and figured out what came next. That's what I try to write here.
No credentials in networking or security. The experience is in the subscriptions and the travel, not in what's happening technically behind the scenes. When I explain something, I explain it the way I'd explain it to a friend asking for help over a voice call, which means plain language and probably a slightly irritated tone when the thing stops working again.
Articles by Tessa Pemberton
- How a Dedicated IP for Streaming Stops Constant Captcha Problems
- How to Change Disney Plus Region to Watch UK Content from Anywhere
- Is ExpressVPN Good for Microsoft Teams Calls While Traveling Abroad?
- Easy Way to Unblock Netflix Japan for Anime While Living in Mexico
- Why Your VPN Is Not Working With Sky Go Abroad
- Why Surfshark is the Best VPN for Travel with Multiple Devices
- NordVPN vs Surfshark for Streaming British TV From Mexico and Lisbon
- Best Ways to Use a Travel Router for Hotel Room Streaming
- Why ExpressVPN is the Best VPN for BBC iPlayer When Others Fail
- Why CyberGhost is the Best VPN for Streaming Overseas on Firestick
- Best VPN for Travelers with Multiple Laptops and Streaming Sticks (2026 Guide)
- Best VPN for Lisbon Digital Nomads Working From Coworking Spaces (2026 Update)
- Best VPN with Unlimited Device Connections for Nomadic Couples (2026 Update)
- How to Watch ITVX Outside UK for Free Without Buffering (2026 Guide)
- Easy Way to Set Up a VPN on a Hotel Smart TV for Streaming (2026 Update)
- Is Private Internet Access Fast Enough for Gaming While Traveling? (2026 Update)
- Why Digital Nomads Need a Dedicated IP for Remote Work in 2026
- University Challenge in Mexico City: Which VPNs Actually Unblocked the Beeb This Month?
Disclosure
Some outbound links on this site are affiliate links. If you sign up for a service through one of them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend services I have paid for and used myself while traveling. If something stopped working for me mid-trip, the review says so.