This is a guest post by Jess Signet, of .
“Special thanks to Gringos Abroad for sharing this article with their readers. It is an excellent resource of tips and advice for those considering whether to expatriate any time soon. I particularly found about how moving abroad can benefit your family.” ~ Jess
Living abroad is a lot of fun, but there’s no denying that you can start feeling a bit out-of-the-loop with things back home.
Maybe you’re feeling homesick, miss the sounds of your native language or are frustrated with not being able to join in conversations about popular shows that everyone else is talking about—there are plenty of reasons why you might seek out American entertainment when you’re traveling.
But finding reliable sources that you can access abroad can be difficult.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting yourself set up:
Although it used to be that the best movies debuted in cinemas and the best shows debuted on TV, these days, increasingly more content is popping up online. Netflix has a whole string of that they’ve created, and they’ve taken over the rights to continue some popular shows too, such as Black Mirror or Arrested Development. It’s not just Netflix either. Hulu and Amazon have come out with their original content too. Not sure what your friends are watching? Here’s a list of .
For sports, you can generally look for live streams listed in forums. Reddit usually gets a good selection of them. And as for movies, you should also try Googling for cinemas in your area; many movie theaters abroad still show American movies either subtitled or dubbed with English subtitles.
Many online entertainment sources restrict their content only to be accessed from the US. Let’s say you have a Netflix account back home and try to watch Netflix abroad, as soon as you try to access their streaming content, you’ll be faced with . Now, it’s not just that Netflix (or Hulu, BCC iPlayer or whatever else) are trying to be mean to you; instead, geo-restrictions are mandated in the contract agreement between the streaming provider and the owner of the rights to the content.
How does Netflix know you’re out of the country? They look at your IP address, or where your network server is located. So tricking Netflix into thinking that you’re located somewhere else is as easy as hiding your real IP address. Of course, your internet traffic has to appear as though it’s coming from somewhere, but that’s where a comes in. A VPN will reroute all your information through a third-party server located in the country of your choice. If you have a US Netflix account, set your VPN to route your traffic through a US server and Netflix will never know you’ve left the country.
The great thing about torrenting shows and movies is that you often get a better selection than you would with a streaming provider and can download things for off-line viewing. For example, let’s say I know I have a long flight coming up. Maybe I’ll download a few shows that I can watch at the airport. The legalities of this are in a bit of a gray area, though, and penalties vary from country to country.
Make sure you know your local laws!
If you do decide , you should still make sure you’re using a VPN to restrict who can see what you’re up to on the internet. Even if you’re torrenting legal content, internet service providers have been known to , partly because of how much bandwidth the downloads can take up and partly because of the possible legal issues. If you’re torrenting illegal content, well, you have even more reason to hide what you’re doing. Beyond obscuring your location, a VPN also encrypts your internet connection. This will also make you a lot safer from would-be hackers and identity thieves.
Another way to keep up with American entertainment while abroad—particularly when it comes to sports games—is to join expat groups on Facebook and other social media sites so that you can find out about group viewings in your area. For example, you might find out that the Superbowl is being broadcast live at XYZ bar or that a group is getting together to see a new movie. It can be a fun way to meet some new people with similar interests, especially if you’re looking to watch that show or movie anyway.
Although it can be challenging to keep up with American entertainment while you’re living abroad, it’s definitely doable. And even though you might expect that when you’re abroad, you’ll spend the whole time meeting new friends, exploring new cities and living a whole new life, different from what you had back home. Well, sometimes you just need a night to kick back and watch something from back home.
Now, the quest to find decent popcorn.
Update (January 7, 2016): After publishing the post yesterday, I shared it with the Facebook group. Here are some additional tips for catching your favorite shows abroad.
Editor’s note: Watching familiar shows while living abroad can help .