To those who remain onshore and living in the UK, it must seem very odd and slightly incongruous to discover that most Britons who move to live abroad are still proud to fly the flag for the UK. Perhaps you’re wondering how, if you move overseas, you could still be happy to remain associated with Britain? Surely you have effectively defected by expatriating, and isn’t that the ultimate act of turning your back on your home nation?
Well, the fact of the matter is, most expats are still proud to be British – but that doesn’t stop them from being happier and better off living abroad as well!
Today we’re going to explain to onshore Brits how you can be both strongly attached to your roots and willing to defend your old nation’s reputation, whilst being excessively happy to be living a better life abroad. We’ll also explain what drives the vast majority of working age Brits to relocate. If you’re therefore wondering about starting a new life abroad, but you don’t want to turn your back on the UK, we explain how becoming an expatriate does not have anything to do with being anti-Great Britain.
In association with Lloyds TSB, the UK-based award-winning research consultancy FreshMinds recently surveyed a substantial handful of Britons living abroad to determine: -
- Whether they were better off and happier
- Whether they would ever contemplate a return to the UK
- What drove them overseas in the first place and
- Whether they are still attached to their British roots…
The findings of the survey are very interesting indeed. Firstly it is of great significance that the vast majority of the British expats living abroad who were questioned revealed that they maintain strong ties with the UK.
Over three quarters of respondents return regularly to Britain to catch up with family and friends, and stated that it was important to them to maintain links with their home nation.
Whilst one does of course have to limit the number of days one visits the UK for on a regular basis if one wants to remain non-resident for tax purposes, that does not mean expats are restricted from maintaining their proud British roots, or stopped from maintaining contact with their family and friends.
In other words, just because you move abroad, you don’t have to give up your British ties and your British roots.
Of those surveyed who were below the age of retirement, it was abundantly clear that the number one driving reason behind their decision to relocate was for employment purposes. Well over half felt they were driven abroad to improve their career prospects or to find a better paying job – proving that once again it is the economic climate in the UK that’s forcing people abroad.
Interestingly, once abroad Britons cannot be motivated by the likes of money to move back to Britain…it seems that once you have made the emotional connection with your new nation, and invested so much energy into starting a new life overseas, nothing with make you move back!
This ties in very well with our own findings at Shelter Offshore. We recently ran a reader poll to determine how long it takes the average expatriate to feel at home abroad. Our findings showed that most expatriates take between one and two years to feel sufficiently integrated overseas, and the length of time is dictated mainly by the psychological transition that expatriates have to make.
To find a house, make a home, get a job and establish physical ties can take a matter of a few months for the average expatriate – but to truly feel attached to a new country and to feel more at home abroad can take up to two years. The expatriates who make this emotional investment are then far less likely to want to return to the UK, according to the findings of the Lloyds TSB survey.
In Conclusion – You Can be a Proud British Expatriate, Happier Living Abroad!
Despite the fact that there seems to be a huge contradiction between being a proud Briton and being happy living abroad, British expatriates are comfortably living with this dichotomy every day, and proving that you can love your country and the people in it, but be happier with your better lifestyle and improved job prospects abroad!