Do I need an anti-virus or internet security program for a long stay abroad?

I will be abroad for a very long time soon and therefore take my laptop with me. I already have a VPN. (I know that this does not protect against viruses!) The only question now is whether it would be advisable to throw a paid anti-virus program on top of it.

I used to get Bitdefender because I had read only good things about it, but when I got it my PC became very slow, as well as the loading of the internet pages. On my PC it could not have been because it has good hardware.

If it would be useful for you to buy an anti-virus program, what would it be? Had a look at Kaspersky Internet Security, but have read that it makes the PC similar slow as Bitdefender…

So what do you think?

Edit: Have edited the question title again, apparently did not express myself there clearly…

No antivirus program. Win10 defender and brain.exe are enough.

maybe still ublock origin and noscript in the browser.

A VPN is something completely different than an antivirus program. A VPN only obfuscates the identity, you can also download a virus with it.

If you have Windows 10, you do not have to worry about it, the virus program is pretty good here. Otherwise, you have to decide whether you take a third-party program and take the low speed losses, or risk a virus.

Okay, how about AVG Free?

I use only the Windows own virus scanner Defender. Everything else is scrap. Otherwise, always ensure a backup of the data, then you can quickly restart the PC.

I would always recommend virus program.

I use Avira or malwarebytes. Whereby avira is getting more and more intrusive when it comes to the pricing of paid variants.

VPN depends on the country, whether there are people blocked or secret services too curious. But you do not necessarily need it.

If you have Windows 10, there are only a few programs that are better than the Windows Defender. Especially freeware here would probably jeopardize the security more than that it would benefit. But only if you have Windows 10.

Have Windows 8.1 on the laptop: /

Bitdefender is very good but needs a lot of PC resources as it uses 3 AV engines.

Since you have Windows 8.1, I recommend Kaspersky, does not make the calculator overly slow.

Then look at reviews on the Internet, and choose the program that suits your price expectations and slows down the PC as little as possible.