Narratives and Self‐Reflective Process of Lifestyle Migrants: The Quest for the “Good Life”*

Abstract

AbstractThis article analyses the self‐reflective process and narratives of 12 lifestyle migrants who settled between 1990 and 2010 in a rural Andean community in southern Chile. The results show that the time of their arrival and the migrants' life stages were relevant in their reflective process regarding belongingness to the local community and other migrants, the search for an ontological sense and a critical perspective into how their migration affected rurality. The article discusses how rural fantasies and dissatisfaction with modern urban life are central elements in constructing a self and we‐image, as well as a compass that enables them to integrate into the rural community while becoming increasingly aware of how their presence inevitably changes rurality.