When you’re traveling, you want to focus on new experiences, delicious food, maybe even making some new friends. One thing you don’t want to focus on? Figuring out how to access your favorite and important websites in countries where they’re censored. If you’re not prepared before leaving, it can be a real shock when you go to message your mom and suddenly realize that Facebook Messenger is blocked. Or when you promised your boss you’d take care of one thing while you were away, only to realize there’s no way to access your Gmail.

Censorship varies by country. Some places, like Indonesia, are pretty inconsistent and easy to circumvent. Others, like China, have entire “armies” of tens of thousands of people whose whole job is to keep people off of the sites that the government deems inappropriate. So the first step to staying productive when you’re traveling in a country where the government censors is to do your research. A quick search on the name of the country plus “internet censorship” should give you a good overview of what you’re in for, so make sure to do that before boarding the plane.

But in general, don’t freak out your mom. And don’t miss that important email from your boss. Use these apps that help you stay productive when traveling in countries that censor.

VPNS

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and in most countries, they’re your best bet for accessing sites that have been censored by your host government. China recently announced a ban on VPNs after being nominally tolerant of them for a long time, so they might not be the solution if you’re headed to Beijing on business any time soon. (Which isn’t to say programmers won’t come up with new tools to get around The Great Firewall — just that we don’t have them yet.)

However, in countries with lighter censorship, like Vietnam or Thailand or the aforementioned Indonesia, VPNs will usually get you around censorship. Instead of connecting you to the internet from you current location, VPNs reroute your connection through a secure server. VPNs also encrypt that connection, so no one — not governments, not cyber criminals, no one — can see what you’re doing online.

Proxy Servers

While a VPN covers all online activity on your computer or device, proxy servers only work with your browser. So, for example, if you’re using a messenger app outside of your browser, that won’t be protected. Proxy servers disguise the location of your connection by rerouting your internet traffic through a distant server. They can make it look like you’re in New York, for example, when you’re sitting in a cafe in Bangkok.

Proxy servers great for getting around low-level censorship, like blocked YouTube videos, but won’t work well if you’re in an area with heavy censorship or to access more controversial sites, like social media or certain news. They also don’t encrypt your data, so if you need that added level of protection, it’s better to go with a VPN. (Also, most good VPNs have built-in proxy servers.)

However, if you want a cheap or free, low-impact, low commitment solution, proxy servers can be a great option.

Encrypted Messengers

When you send a message via Facebook Messenger, Facebook has access to the content of that message. Similar when you send a message via SMS — that data isn’t encrypted. So if you want to make sure that the messenger you’re using is really private, it’s a good idea to use an encrypted messenger, like Signal.

Some governments, like Egypt’s, have recently started targeting encrypted messengers but for the most part they’re still an excellent option for safe, free messaging, even when you’re traveling in a country that has censored internet.

Traveling to a country that censors the internet doesn’t have to cut you off from your favorite sites or your communities back home. Like we said — all it takes is a little bit of research before you board the plane.