Lifestyle Mobility

(Barcelona); Jordi Giner y Carles Simó completaron un análisis sociodemográfico sobre el retorno de los jubilados europeos a sus países de origen en la comarca de la Marina Alta (Alicante); Rosario Navalón presentó los resultados de un estudio realizado a partir de la aplicación de un sistema de indicadores dedicado a evaluar la capacidad de carga de los municipios litorales en la comarca de la Vega del Bajo Segura (Alicante).

This article explores discourses of expatriation in Merida (Mexico) developed in autobiographies, handbooks for expatriates, local house tours, websites and videos, as well as interior design books. In the city of Merida (Mexico), buying and remodeling a colonial home has become a central theme in expatriation narratives. North American expatriates have become house renovation experts and are fueling a local real estate boom. But for U.S. and Canadian residents, the houses of Mérida also embody lofty community ideals–upward mobility, the American Dream, the Protestant Work Ethic, and even nationalist pride.

This paper explores reasons for choosing Malaysia as a retirement location.In-depth interviews were carried out with 30 international retirees.Pearce's concept of the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) guided the data analysis and results discussion.The dominant motivation themes clustered in the seeking of self-fulfilment needs.Issues as to overlaps between motives and stages in the TCL are discussed.‘Malaysia My Second Home’ is an international retirement migration programme aimed at attracting the lucrative retiree market to choose Malaysia as their residence. This study implemented the concept of the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) (Pearce, 1991), with a purposeful sample of 30 participants who had retired to Malaysia. Questioning was directed towards their motives for selecting Malaysia and the analysis indicated that the majority of the motivation themes clustered in the seeking of self-fulfilment needs. Among motivation themes discovered are meaningful second life, positive instant thoughts, central travel location, positive retirement book description, food variety, tranquillity and simple life, political stability and security, and ease of communication. The study also revealed a challenge in applying TCL to its findings as some motivational themes simultaneously represent various TCL hierarchies. The theoretical, marketing and managerial implications of the study are discussed.

ABSTRACT In recent decades, mobility researchers have paid increasing attention to the flows of relatively privileged individuals whose mobility practices are largely understood to be lifestyle-motivated, consumption-led and tourism-induced (e.g. Benson, M., & O'Reilly, K. (Eds.). (2009). Lifestyle migration: Expectations, aspirations and experiences. Surrey: Ashgate; King, R., Warnes, A. M., & Williams, A. M. (2000). Sunset lives: British retirement migration to the Mediterranean. Oxford: Berg). Situated within the context of lifestyle mobilities, this paper aims to analyse the significance of place and representations of place in the movers' stories of mobility. The mobility experiences of Swedish retirees practicing routinised and seasonal mobility between Sweden and Malta have been analysed, and this paper explores how they actively give meaning to their choices and decisions. In their narratives, the movers express their representations of themselves in relation not only to their imaginings of places and to their belongings to and engagements with these places, but also to their mobility practices. The findings contribute to a discussion of how place imaginaries and self-identities are constructed through lifestyle mobility practices.