Are expats embracing life in their adopted country?

More than a third of British expats lead a 'British lifestyle' in their adopted country

Although living abroad can bring a number of cultural challenges and social upheavals, more often than not the change in lifestyle is heartily appreciated by those who make the move.

Yet a recent poll by online visa application website IXPvisas.com has found that more than a third of British expats said they would, if they could, live a typical British life abroad…

The survey polled 2,116 British expats living in foreign countries around the world, asking them various questions over the course of a year about their lifestyle preferences and the things they most enjoyed about their adopted country.

The results found that 35 per cent of those polled try to live a lifestyle that is not too far-removed from the one they enjoyed back home. Furthermore, almost half of those polled – 44 per cent – felt that they should be doing more to embrace their local culture, indicating a willingness at least to try to broaden their horizons.

Just 11 per cent polled said that they felt they had ‘completely’ embraced the culture of the country in which they live, while 17 per cent said that they had ‘mostly’ embraced it.

Broken down by category, food was the easiest cultural pill to swallow, with 32 per cent feeling that they had embraced the culinary delights of their adopted home. Following closely was ‘making new friends’, with 28 per cent polled saying that they had made an extra effort to widen their social circle. As for learning a new language, an encouraging 21 per cent said they had satisfactorily tackled that particular hurdle.

When asked for examples of behaviours they found hard to shake, 36 per cent said that they exclusively watch British TV, with 58 per cent adding that they had specifically tried to emulate their life from Britain in their new country. Pressed further, 44 per cent believed that they should be doing more to embrace the culture of the country in which they now lived.

Of course, there is no right or wrong way to ‘be’ an expat. People have many different reasons for moving abroad, with the poll finding that 51 per cent were ‘following a better wage’; a move that doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with an appetite for cultural enrichment.

“There’s often a lot of political coverage surrounding immigrants coming to the UK and not embracing British culture,” said IXPvisas.com’s Director of Marketing, Liam Clifford. “However, there’s a lot less coverage of what Brits are like when the shoe is on the other foot. It seems that many of us fail to integrate into our adopted cultures when living abroad, instead of trying to keep the lifestyle as British as possible.

“We really should practice what we preach. Learning the language of a new country should be one of the first things that we try to do. Fair enough if you don’t like the local cuisine and are a little choosy in a restaurant, but expats really should make the effort to embrace their new home’s way of life in as many ways as possible,” he added.