# Personality traits that draw people to expat life

- **Episode:** [118](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/118.md) (2024-07-25)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** personality traits, expat motivation, adventure seeking
- **Time:** 27:49–33:43 (start 1669s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/118?t=1669](https://truthliesandwork.com/118?t=1669)

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[27:49] Nathan Cornwell: Yeah, it's interesting. I was very curious about kind of the types of people that were out in China. If I was to broadly put them into 2 categories, there were a lot of people sort of out there for a new experience, out there to kind of see a different part of the world. Everyone's got some curiosity about kind of the East and sort of understanding what Asian culture is like, especially because it's so different to to the West and the UK, for example. So there was a category of people that I put into that box. They were kind of out there to kind of explore and see something new. There was another category of people which I don't know how to politely sort of describe them, but a little bit strange, sort of running away from something. I don't know whether they'd been sort of cast out by their own social groups in some sort of way, but I mean, they kept things fun, you know, meeting them and understanding their background. was quite interesting to hear. But yeah, I got the sense that they'd sort of come to China without much of a plan and they were kind of sort of trying to find their way a little bit. So I kind of broadly bucket them into 2 aspects. But if we think back to sort of personality, now there was a broad range of different personalities in terms of the expats I'd met, but there was a big difference in terms of the ones that were sort of successful as expats and that wanted to stay there and kind of embrace the culture. And I guess thinking of the Big 5 traits, 2 of the big ones that would probably predict, and in the research I've seen, predicts kind of expat success are around extroversion. So those that are kind of willing to get out there and meet people, because people is such a strong component of settling in, kind of enjoying the experience altogether, not just meeting expats, but meeting locals, those that are a bit highly extroverted, are willing to go and do these networking events or go to social events, things like that. They tend to do pretty well. And again, I think the research backs that up. The other, the other big of the Big 5 traits is openness. So, so people are high in openness, you know, being curious, being willing to try new things out, especially when you go to China, you have to try all these different types of food, which are fantastic. Most of the time, but some of the time, as I say, you're not sure what you're eating exactly. And I think if you weren't so high in openness, that might be a bit of a struggle. But I think that's another conversation is how much does kind of living abroad and being in these different cultures perhaps tweak your personality in some respects? Because I know I saw a lot of people that started off quite sort of boxed in, especially if we go down the food routes. They just wanted to try the Western food on the menu. But over time, they started opening up, they started trying new things, and I think that really benefited them and helped them to sort of personally develop and be a bit more curious about different things. And I've seen that not just in China, but in other countries that I've lived in. I think there is a sort of slight tweak to your personality in terms of increasing that openness aspect. So, yeah, I'd say they are 2 big factors that kind of its success as an expat, if we're looking at sort of personality
[31:05] Leanne Elliott: And how about your— you said there that personality can change and be moulded depending on the environment that you're in. Is that something you've experienced yourself? How has your personality changed?
[31:17] Nathan Cornwell: I've certainly thought about in other people, but maybe not necessarily myself as much. I think one thing that's really helped is, yeah, neuroticism. I've never necessarily been someone that's been high on neuroticism. I've always sort of been in the middle, but I think having these experiences has kind of lowered that a little bit because you have to be quite resilient in certain situations because you're thrown into lots of situations you never thought you'd be in. For instance, when I first got to China, I wasn't necessarily financially prepared for the move. So When I arrived, I didn't realise you needed about 5 months' worth of rent to actually find somewhere to live, which is quite a significant amount, right? It's not necessarily that small, even though compared to the UK, it was still cheaper. Finding 5 months of rent was still a bit of a challenge. So I had to kind of try and find my own way in a certain sense and find Airbnbs to live in, you know, for a week and then move somewhere else, basically waiting for that first pay package to come. And during this period of time where I was sort of slowly running out of money, I was preparing myself for an interview. And I, without being too graphic, I know you mentioned, uh, this is not a family show, so maybe I can mention this story, but I was preparing for a job interview and I was trying to make a hole in my belt and I slipped with this pair of scissors. And it went straight through my finger, which sort of really put a dampener on the day because I couldn't go to this interview in the end and I had to go to hospital. I wasn't covered by medical insurance at the time either because it hadn't sort of kicked in yet. So then I'm in a hospital having to get it stitched up, having to pay money that I thought I was saving up for this new apartment I was going to get. And really sort of struggling with that whole situation. And it was still early days in my kind of China experience. So those type of incidents, I obviously had to overcome it. And I think the other thing is when things like that happen, you don't want to just fly back. You have this sort of extra pressure to kind of maintain your status out there, maintain your expat life, because it's almost a little bit embarrassing, if you like