I’ve been facing this issue for some time because I always have to connect to public WiFi in hotels, Starbucks and airports to open some confidential apps as bank accounts, password manager, etc. and I was wondering here what do other nomads do to protect themselves in this scenario?
Also cyber security engineer - those threats are so overstated it’s hilarious. No one is hacking you at a Starbucks. HTTPS is more than sufficient for everything. Just practice basic cybersecurity like checking the URL before you type your password in. If you are going to get scammed on the internet, there’s a 99% chance it starts with an email or a text message (and it’ll be your own fault), not a hacker on Starbucks wifi.
That said, I do have a WireGuard VPN I built in a raspberry pi. It cost Line $30 total and will last for a decade. There’s no need at all for any VPN service like the ones they advertise in YouTube. They only make money by paying YouTubers to scare you into thinking your porn habits will be disclosed. That is not a reasonable fear, that’s not how internet security breaches work.