To be fair, English has become more or less the de facto "universal language," spoken all over the world. So although your Brit friends are clearly suffering from cultural tunnel vision, the expectation that they can find at least someone who knows some basic English isn't so outrageous.
Have also heard that when traveling, keeping an ear out for people who speak English can be very beneficial in meeting new people who may know the area better than you, or offer interesting conversation. There's often someone who will speak it, even if not natively, and that is always fun.
To be fair, English has become more or less the de facto "universal language," spoken all over the world. So although your Brit friends are clearly suffering from cultural tunnel vision, the expectation that they can find at least someone who knows some basic English isn't so outrageous.
Have also heard that when traveling, keeping an ear out for people who speak English can be very beneficial in meeting new people who may know the area better than you, or offer interesting conversation. There's often someone who will speak it, even if not natively, and that is always fun.