I’m going to be away from home for a few weeks and would like to access my computer (LMDE) while I’m away. Remote desktop connection would be ideal, just file transfer would be acceptable.
Is a VPN necessary, or can port forwarding be good enough for a one time use?
What software/networking recommendations do you have?
Just set up a basic ssh connection, using key based authentication. You don’t need anything past that for a basic short term connection. I used one for years with port forwarding through my router to the ssh port on my desktop.
Now that I have a more complex setup with several services I use Tailscale and run my own Headscale server for it. But still, basic ssh will get you a long way and should be the first thing you do.