I am from the USA, so my list reflects a comparison between Paraguay and the United States. My top five reasons for loving my life in Paraguay are:

       1.  FREEDOM. It sounds weird that someone born in “the land of the free” would find more freedom abroad, but I have much less restriction on my personal liberty in Paraguay. Here as a property owner, I ask no one before I do anything with my land. No permits, No arrogant bureaucrat to pass judgment on my project. Put up a shed? Put up a fence? Sink a well? No problem. No fees. In the States, I got flak for putting up a doghouse. Also, I can burn my leaves or cook some burgers on a campfire in my yard without cops rushing into my yard with guns leveled at me screaming “Get on the ground!” “Get on the ground!” “Show me your permit”.

      2. CLIMATE. I grew up in the northeastern U.S., and am tired of ice cold winters and snow. Here the crops grow year round.  There are cold days in July and August, where it can get down into the 30s Fahrenheit, but this doesn’t affect my many fruit trees or my garden. My banana plants were damaged one year, and lost some leaves, but that is about it. Also, there are no hurricanes or earthquakes, and tornados are extremely rare and not large when they do occur.

      3. COST OF PROPERTY. I bought a well-made two-bedroom brick house with 3 hectares (7.5 acres) of land in 2008 for $30,000. In the States this is impossible. I would have had to enslave myself to a bank for thirty years to buy a house, and worry for all that time about paying my mortgage. I own my house outright, and have since day one.

      4.  COST OF LIVING. While this is rising as time goes by, if you know where to buy, you can find just about anything you want for less than it costs in the States.

      5.  CORRUPTION. That’s right, I like the corruption here. ALL countries on the face of this planet have corrupt governments. The only difference is in who can participate in this corruption. In the States, big banks, like Goldman Sachs can defraud investors of billions of dollars, then pay a paltry 10 or 12 million dollars and not admit any guilt in a “settlement”. Wealthy criminals, in the rare occasions that they are convicted, have the political connections necessary to do any brief prison time they receive in a “country club” prison like Danbury, CT. The traffic police won’t even pull over a limousine.  The little people live by different rules. If you get pulled over when the traffic cops are trying to make their quota of tickets, look forward to an “excessive speed” ticket, even if you weren’t speeding. You will then probably be saddled with a $100 or $150 ticket, no matter how much talking you do. In Paraguay almost anyone can, and does, participate in the corruption. Here the cops are also out trying to raise revenue. The difference is that the cops here are so poorly paid that a $10 or $20 bribe will get you out of that “excessive speed” ticket that you were innocent of anyway.