Paper short abstract:

Changing ones environment in order to aquire a better quality of life has been the goal for the western female lifestyle migrants who have moved to Ubud on the island of Bali. Here, the goal is to find the Good Life and to escape the previous life in their western home society.

Paper long abstract:

The aim of my research has been to provide a better understanding of specific factors that has turned lifestyle migration into an increasingly growing phenomenon. The research was conducted amongst female Western migrants in their 30s to 50s in the small town of Ubud in Indonesia. These women had «escaped» their former lifestyle and country of origin in order to live a «simpler» and more «alternative» way of life. «Alternative», in the context of the research, meant frequent participation in yoga classes and meditaion session, along with attending spiritual workshops, and being consious of ones diet.

The research highlights specific activities that the women performed in order to «fix» their emotional scars and physical pains, and is essentially due to the three core elements of Escapism, New Challenges, and Freedom. They had taken an holistic approach which consisted of attending regular yoga and meditation classes, self-realisation workshops, and «connecting with nature» from eating fresh, local, organic produce. These factors combined contributed to a new start in their search for a better quality of life and in finding what they perceived to be the Good Life.