This is much easier to set up and works well. The router or server you are tunneling to needs no extra configuration beyond having ssh set up. On a VPS it will already be running and with router firmware like DD-WRT or Tomato it's just a checkbox in the settings.

VPN makes more sense if you need to access things on another network, like shared drives, and can be difficult to configure.

I've been working completely mobile and using tunneling for years. It works well. Set sshd on the router/server to use port 443 and you won't have issues with port restrictions.