As fun and exciting as traveling abroad might be, sooner or later most people still get homesick. When you travel to another country you only get to take a suitcase (or several, if you’re lucky) with you, so you can’t possibly stuff in there all the things that you love and enjoy about your home country. Surprisingly or not, apart from the people they love and the comfort of their own home, a lot of travelers miss watching their favorite TV shows when they’re out of the country.
So, if you have a long trip abroad ahead of you, and you want to make sure you don’t miss any episode of your favorite Swedish TV shows while you’re away, you might want to prepare in advance. Because your subscription to Swedish streaming services might be completely useless once you cross the border.
For various reasons, most Swedish media services limit users’ access, only allowing people who are physically located within Sweden’s borders to view the content they provide. It means you probably won’t be able to watch any of the Swedish shows you like when you travel abroad. That is, unless you find a way to go around these annoying geo-restrictions and gain access to the platforms and content you want. And that’s exactly the topic we’re going to address next.
How Swedish streaming services block users
Let’s say you want to watch a Swedish TV programme, but you’re not in the country. In some situations, the only thing you’re going to see is an error message from the operator. That’s because in Sweden a lot of streaming services block their content for outside viewers due to licensing agreements. And they manage to do that by tracking your IP address. Your IP address reveals your physical location, so the streaming company will know that you’re not in Sweden when you try to connect to their network, and they’ll block you access.
That’s called geo-blocking, and as frustrating as it might be, it’s still a widespread practice that’s not going to disappear anytime soon. Luckily, there’s a very simple and effective way to bypass geographical restrictions imposed by media networks and enjoy all the content your heart desires, no matter where you are in the world. We’re talking about using a virtual private network or VPN.
Use a VPN to bypass geo-restrictions
Now that you know you’re not doomed to part ways with any of your beloved Swedish shows when you leave the country, let’s see how a VPN service can help you. As we’ve mentioned earlier, streaming services block users by tracking their physical location through their IP address.
That’s where VPNs come into play and trick these services into thinking your physical location is in Sweden. How exactly do they do that? By allowing you to connect to a server located in Sweden, thus masking your real IP address and replacing it with the server’s IP address, to make it seem like you’re watching from your home country.
So, you can use a VPN to obtain a Swedish IP and gain access to any show or content that is being broadcast on Swedish networks and channels. This way geo-restrictions will no longer represent an issue for you and you can stream as much as you like without having to worry about your location.
Not sure what are the steps you should follow to use a VPN for your streaming needs? The process couldn’t be any simpler. All you have to do is:
- Choose a reliable VPN service that has servers in Sweden. ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark are all great options, so you can check them out and choose the one that suits your needs, or do your own research and decide which VPN works best for you.
- Install the VPN on your device (a lot of services allow more than one connection) and then connect to a server in Sweden.
- Access the streaming service of your choice and start watching your favorite Swedish shows uninterrupted.
As you can see, it doesn’t take much to enjoy the benefits a VPN provides and bypass geo-restrictions. All it takes is a bit of research and then you can stream away.
Other useful tips for enjoying Swedish shows while abroad
Once you’ve addressed the issue of geo-blocking, there are other steps you can take to make your streaming experience abroad even more pleasant. Here are some tips that you might find useful.
Get alerts for new episodes
When you’re out and about, it’s easy to fall behind on the shows you watched religiously when you were at home. No one can blame you as you’re probably busy exploring or working – depending on the purpose of your trip. But if you’re feeling low-key guilty for not staying up to date with your favorite shows, there’s a very simple solution to fix that: get alerts whenever new episodes or seasons are added and you’ll never miss an episode again. You can also get alerts for new shows if you want to keep up with the latest offering.
Binge when you have the time
Like it or not, life sometimes gets in the way of your plans and you won’t always have the time to stay glued to a screen and watch the shows and programs you like. But don’t worry, you can always catch up by scheduling a binge session every now and then. In fact, a lot of people prefer watching shows like this instead of waiting week after week for new episodes.
Stay away from spoilers
When you don’t have time to watch a show from start to end, it can be tempting to get just a sneak peak to find out what happens next. But our recommendation is to stay away from spoilers if you don’t want to ruin all the fun and excitement of the show. So, whenever you come across short clips or posts mentioning your shows, just keep scrolling.