dealing with to_crs while on VPN

dealing_with_crs.py

import geopandas as gpd

shapes = gpd.read_file('path/to/file')

# to_crs will mess up the first shape row with `inf` geometry
shapes_reproj = shapes.to_crs('EPSG:XXXX')
# so to avoid, flip the dataframe and run again, grabbing only the row you need
first = shapes.iloc[::-1].to_crs('EPSG:XXXX').iloc[-1,:]
# then fill in the messed up row with the good row
shapes_reproj.iloc[0,:] = first


##############################################
# ALTERNATIVELY, you can turn off the network projections
# then there's no communication for the VPN to mess up
# it is possible that the projection might get slightly less accurate
# so you should check the geometries.
import pyproj
pyproj.network.set_network_enabled(False)