Ive been to Chile plenty of times in the last 5 years.
You are are spot in in regards to your research.
I do think Australia has much better career opportunities in general however it doesn't seem you are migrating there for that reason.
location is key to the lifestyle you want. Living in regional nsw vs rose bay sydney would give you a totally different lifestyle and the same applies in chile.
chile is economically stable however just being out and about you do realize they arent as "wealthy" as Australia. for example, not as much unnecessary spending like maintenance in parks, or side walks, graffiti removal etc.. plenty of stray dogs on the street. not as much of a cafe/fine dining culture as most Chileans are more frugal with their money.
one thing that did bother me was a lack of grass and trees in most areas(apart from the south of chile). for some reason it was one of the things i was so glad to see when i came back to sydney.
The positives are as you mentioned. i myself would like to live in chile for 6 months - 1 year and work remotely ( i did this for 3 months back in 2008). its also a excellent gateway to visit other parts of SA
Thanks Benvolio.
I guess a small part of my reasoning to post was to draw out anyone who had been there and comment, as you have done.
I have been networking with expats and Chileans on Facebook and signing up to all things related to Chile and Santiago, so I get plenty of emails every day. I liken it to when I started boarding school; its what you make of it that counts.
There is very little in the way of negatives so far. The 6.6 earthquake near Antofagasta this week didnt help!
pinkboy