It happens all the time. You scour the Internet and local stores in search of the perfect gift that is easy on the wallet and doesn't take too long to deliver.

Well, lucky for you, your prayers have been answered. We have the best VPN available. A virtual private network is not what your loved one was looking for.

It's affordable, instantaneous, incredibly convenient, and quite necessary in this day and age. I'm not convinced. So, put down your shopping list and give your loved one a VPN for the following four reasons.

Santa obviously needs to know where you live. But no one but the big man in red should know about your personal activities and details.

With a VPN, all of that is kept safe. A virtual private network encrypts your online activities, meaning that no one can see your activities while you are connected to the VPN. [This is because the VPN works by completely changing your IP address. While this is happening, no one can physically locate you through your online device.

This is good news for you, but not for online scammers and criminals trying to get your personal information.

As mentioned above, VPNs encrypt your data and hide your IP address to keep you safe online. However, it has a secondary, and rather useful, benefit.

To keep your IP address hidden, VPNs reroute your IP address to another address. The best VPNs allow you to choose which country to go through. This means that you can access certain features from that country.

More specifically, you can access and watch content available from those regions. Geo-located content can be unlocked on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and many other streaming sites.

Some options work better as a streaming VPN, but there are plenty of tools to unblock regional and global content.

Whether it's for yourself or a loved one, gadgets abound at Christmas. New tablets, smartphones, and laptops are great gifts. But they can also be dangerous.

Many VPNs automatically come with security features such as ad blockers, malware trackers, and phishing protection. Some of the more secure VPNs even have a special emphasis on security, with multiple layers of protection at startup.

NordVPN, for example, offers Threat Protection Pro. This tool aims to protect your online presence down to the Javascript and URL code level. In other words, it filters out any malicious attempts you encounter online and protects you from them.

These tools are not just about protecting the new. Most VPNs can be used on a variety of devices to keep the whole family and their gadgets safe.

If you're not convinced by all of the above reasons, here's one last one. Right now, inexpensive VPNs are snowing with seasonal deals.

PrivadoVPN is currently available for the ridiculously low price of $1.11 per month, or $30 in all. Despite this price, the VPN has a lot to offer. With an easy-to-use interface, it can unblock a large number of streaming sites and can be used with up to 10 devices.

Paying a little more each month gets you Surfshark, one of the biggest names in the VPN field, but it costs just $1.99 per month ($55 for a one-time payment).

Surfshark has always walked the perfect line between affordability and features, making it the best cheap VPN available today. It excels in both streaming and security, and is overall very affordable.

Finally, at $2.19 per month and $56 overall, Private Internet Access is yet another very affordable VPN option. It is an excellent choice for those who are more focused on privacy and want to keep all their devices secure.