Feeling homesick? Proton’s Black Friday VPN deal is perfect for UK-based expats

Proton VPN new mobile app interface – promo image
(Image credit: Proton)

  • 88% of expats say accessing home content helps with homesickness
  • A VPN unlocks geo-blocked content and secures public Wi-Fi connections
  • Black Friday sale cuts Proton VPN by 75%

A new Proton VPN survey shows that the majority of expats in the UK believe accessing content from back home can help ease the strain of living abroad.

The best VPN can help an expat missing home by unblocking familiar online content from their country. This includes anything from geo-restricted TV shows and movies to live sports and news.

Below, we unpack the key findings from Proton’s research, explore why a VPN has become a staple for the modern expat, and explain how you can take advantage of one of the best Black Friday VPN deals of the year – a 75% discount on Proton VPN.

Proton VPN: 3.59) just $2.49a month
Black Friday Deal

Proton VPN: (was $3.59) just $2.49 a month
Proton VPN offers Swiss-grade privacy reassurances, a bunch of top-notch security and censorship-unblocking features, high speeds, and servers all across the globe. Now at 75% off, you can get:

🌍Servers in 126 countries
📺Impeccable streaming unblocking
✅Swiss-grade privacy reassurances
🔒Advanced security and unblocking features

88% of UK expats curb homesickness by accessing content from home

Expats and international students in the UK report missing everyday comforts of home, including family gatherings, familiar food, and even the local weather. All of which can contribute to feelings of homesickness.

According to Proton's findings, 88% of UK-based expats find accessing home-country content eases homesickness, while a quarter say it wipes the feeling entirely. For foreign students, the impact is even stronger, with 90% reporting a significant reduction in homesickness.

Nearly half of expats who are regular VPN users (48%) stream video or TV from their home country, while 41% engage with social media platforms. Moreover, 73% consider staying connected to home-country news, events, and culture important.

Among respondents who are aware of what a VPN does, 47% of expats and 55% of foreign students use a VPN at least once a week, showing just how integral VPNs have become to expats’ everyday lives.

Infographics showing how many UK-based expat use a VPN (November 2025)

(Image credit: Proton)

How a VPN solves the problem

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, helps bridge the gap between UK expats and region-locked content. It hides their original IP address and location, instead providing a new, temporary IP address matching the desired country. This lets users bypass geo-blocking and stream TV shows, movies, sports, and news without restriction.

Another reason for expats to use a VPN is the security it provides. By encrypting a user’s internet traffic, a VPN protects sensitive data such as banking credentials and personal messages from being intercepted – especially important when using unsecure public wifi in cafes, airports, and on university campuses.

In practice, an expat can launch a VPN, select a server in their home country, and instantly access their preferred content. Meanwhile, their connection remains encrypted and private, making a VPN an essential tool for navigating life far from home.

Proton VPN’s Black Friday Sale

Proton VPN Hero Showing Multiple UIs

Proton VPN is responding to the need for secure, unrestricted connectivity with massive Black Friday discounts of up to 75%. From the usual $3.59 fee, prices get slashed to the equivalent of $2.49 a month for its 2-year plan (billed at $59.76 for the first 24 months).

Proton Unlimited, which adds all premium Proton products, including Proton Mail, the Proton Pass password manager, and Proton Drive encrypted cloud storage, is also discounted by a whopping 50%. This means you'll get Proton's full security suite at only what works out to be $6.49 a month ($77.88 for the first 12 months).

All Proton plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, making the upgrade risk-free. If you do want to lock in those savings, just be sure to take advantage before Black Friday ends.


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Mark Gill
Tech Security Writer

Mark is a Tech Security Writer for TechRadar and has been published on Comparitech and IGN. He graduated with a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Lincoln and spent several years teaching English as a foreign language in Spain. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal sparked Mark’s interest in online privacy, leading him to write hundreds of articles on VPNs, antivirus software, password managers, and other cybersecurity topics. He recently completed the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, and when he's not studying for the CompTIA Security+ exam, Mark can be found agonizing over his fantasy football team selections, watching the Detroit Lions, and battling bugs and bots in Helldivers 2.

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