Hello Paraguay – goodbye Europe

Where is the best place to start this journey?

Well, it doesn’t feel like travelling, more like coming home! I hope you get a taste for it and want MORE! I’m happy to help you if you would like to look into the idea more closely yourself.

We – my girlfriend and I – would describe ourselves as open-minded people. Because of the C madness and the whole smurf hysteria, we were simply stunned at how easily people can be manipulated. And even now, with the Ukraine conflict, they don’t notice how much, in our opinion, they are being distracted from the truth. Among friends, acquaintances and even within the family, extremist camps formed.

That was the moment for us, in March 2022, to turn our backs on Europe for good – although the decision had already been made in November 2021. We had 4 months to dissolve a whole household, prepare a load for a shipping container and reduce our worldly possessions to 4 suitcases. At that time it became very clear to us how much property you accumulate unnecessarily and how attached you are to it. We found selling our furniture very liberating – it felt as if a great burden had fallen away with all this “stuff”.

It was an exciting, emotional but also gruelling time.

Again and again there were doubts as to whether what we were doing was really right. With our families, too, the pain of separation was often great. My girlfriend found it particularly hard to leave the cat behind. Saying goodbye to our dearest neighbours was just as upsetting, and the few friends we had left wished us all the best and envied us a little for daring this adventure.

When the time came, a neighbour who is a friend took us to Vienna airport with 4 suitcases and hand luggage. The self-check-in terminal tested our nerves. We stood puzzled in front of the scanning machine and realised that it turns people more and more into a product. Costs rise, content is reduced and at the same time service is minimised.

At the baggage drop, too, you were forced to take over what is actually the ground staff’s job and check in the suitcases yourself. According to the airlines, the official maximum weight is 23 kilos per suitcase. To be on the safe side, we had packed 22 kilos using a luggage scale at home, but the scales there showed something else. So we – like some others – had to repack so as not to exceed the absolute limit of 23.7 kilos.

We flew to Frankfurt without any problems in one hour and 25 minutes. There we first had a 5-hour break before the flight to São Paulo. Frankfurt’s big airport was very impressive for me in particular, as planes with huge wings and monstrous engines had already fascinated me in my youth. From an outdoor terrace we watched an Emirates Airbus A380 taxiing onto the runway. We used the time to say goodbye to our families once more (via a certain unnamed Telegram messenger).

Now came the exhausting flight across the Atlantic, with 12 hours in the air.

I think it was an Airbus A340 that took us to Brazil. As a tall person, I found it hard to rest, let alone sleep, in the narrow seats – especially on a longer flight. But it was hardly possible for my sweetheart either. It is worth mentioning that the flight attendants at times pointed out the mask requirement in a very annoying way.

Documents needed & tips

We needed the following documents for our flight to Paraguay:

• Vienna Schwechat airport: passport
• Transit at Frankfurt airport: xxx
• Transit at São Paulo airport: PCR test certificate and QR code, passport
• Arrival in Asunción: passport, PCR test certificate and QR code, health certificate and QR code, vaccination certificate and QR code

With some airlines, each traveller can take a bicycle free of charge. There are special bike boxes for this, and you should roughly dismantle the bike: remove the front wheel, pedals and possibly the saddle, and turn the handlebars lengthways. The rules differ from one airline to another and can be quite confusing: with some, the bicycle counts as standard free baggage and costs nothing, while with others it counts as special baggage and incurs extra costs.

With regard to animals, you should find out very carefully how and what exactly you need with each airline, as the requirements differ. Contradictory reports from travellers keep emerging; in individual cases it probably depends on the staff on duty at the time.

When we arrived in Asunción, a lot happened too fast for us.

Although Asunción is an international airport, most procedures there are, to put it simply, “functional”. You notice that you have left Europe and arrived in South America. You have to be able to accept that, otherwise you will despair over every little thing.

After landing, we followed the “baggage reclaim” signs and automatically came to border control, where we needed all the proofs and certificates, plus an extra photo they took of us. We were quite amazed when the good woman – who works at an international airport – had no English at all and looked at the papers for no longer than 2 seconds.

After we had stowed our “3-kilo folders” again, we went on to baggage reclaim and were able to collect our suitcases, which were already doing their rounds on the carousel. Thank God, because on other flights I had experienced luggage arriving 2 weeks later.

Outside, the heat hit us

For my darling it was oppressively hot; for me it was pleasant and exciting. I would have liked to kiss the ground – finally away from Europe. Because one thing I had known since we booked: wild horses won’t drag me away from here.

Many “friendly” Paraguayans were waiting to take our trolley from us so that they could drive us in their taxi. To put it politely, it was pushy.

As things stand today, the government is apparently discussing lifting all measures in Paraguay. So it looks good for being able to travel to Paraguay again without certificates in future.

Unfortunately, we failed to change euros into guaraní (the currency of Paraguay) at the airport. At that time the exchange rate was 1 : 7,800. You wouldn’t believe it, but the rate at the airport was exceptionally good at 1 : 7,600. In the end, the driver who picked us up from the airport took us to a money changer who changed at 1 : 7,300. It could hardly have been worse. Well, now we know. You shouldn’t kid yourself: especially at the beginning, you will make some mistakes, and you should learn from them quickly.

You learn from your mistakes

And there were many things we would have liked to know right on arrival. Among other things, that ideally you should bring as much cash as possible. Each traveller is allowed to bring money worth USD 10,000.00. However, we were neither asked about it nor checked anywhere. To our regret, precisely for that reason we did not use the full allowance. We had heard that it is becoming increasingly difficult to exchange cash, but once you are here, various opportunities keep arising to change money at the best rates. That’s South America ;)

Tip: There is a lot more to learn about money and transfers:

When it comes to getting larger sums into the country, you look for someone with an account in Paraguay whom you trust a great deal. A cooperative such as Carlos Pfannl (admission conditions), a European all-round fixer such as Peter Kunzmann near Villarrica, or Jo Portios in Encarnación. They can help you with almost everything. However, they are always very short of time, because many people need support. You can find out more about this from me, too!

We have heard from others – who had tried it on their own – that they lost up to 7% of the total sum in the exchange. So it is worth it.

Did you know?

• That there are no letterboxes in Paraguay?

• If you are expecting or sending a parcel, the address is the nearest supermarket.

• That there are street names, but nobody uses them?

• You can show a taxi driver a point on a map or say where you want to go using landmarks.

• That hardly anyone has a bell on their door or entrance?

• Instead of ringing, you clap your hands; that way people notice you and ask what you want.

To be continued …

My offer

Now, at the end of our first month in Paraguay, looking back we have realised that we would have liked to have a lot of information sooner. Much of the help offered on the internet is vague or not detailed enough and, at least for us, was of no real help. Feel free to contact me!

In a personal conversation I am happy to advise you on your individual questions. Modern messengers and fast internet make uncomplicated conversations possible in Paraguay. The only limitation may be the time difference of 4 hours in winter and 6 hours in summer :)

Speaking of which, the internet is very well developed in large parts of the country, as Paraguay is already very far ahead with laying fibre-optic cables.

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