[gesman]

Have a separate small travel router with embedded VPN support to connect printer to Wi-fi hotspot with whatever region it wants to see.

It's not HP's or any other vendor's business to know where you are. This is an easy solution to this.

I have a few routers at home with a separate Wifi hotspot each configured for separate country to avoid exactly this nonsense for different services.

Advantage of this approach is you can travel with a small travel router all over the world while feeding each of the service with a consistent country location.

Added privacy is a benefit.

[Wowfunhappy]

Wait. Your printer has online DRM?! Does it work without an internet connection?

That's much worse than the situation in the article, which is just region locked cartridges.

[mikepurvis]

Doesn't sound like it has to be online if they're blocking it using a VPN. But probably it phones home opportunistically, similar to modern TVs and most other "smart" stuff.

[loloquwowndueo]

Any recommendations on travel routers that support VPNs, specifically either wireguard or openvpn?

[gesman]

Yes, google: "gl inet travel routers". Supports everything.

And this: https://www.gl-inet.com/products/compare/

I have about 5 of these at home, each configured at different subnet and VPN for different country. One i always take with me while traveling to securely connect via shady hotel Wi-Fi's.

You can even go crazy with it - install ZeroTier directly in the router by typing few commands and access low-level config of the router from anywhere.