We moved to Spain three years ago, predominantly for the children. I’d got fed up with bad public services and rising crime rates in West London, where we used to live. The children are happy here and I love the fact that they can speak another language. I work from home in Malaga on Mondays and take an 8.30pm flight to Heathrow. I stay in digs and return on Thursday night. I’ll leave the office (which is actually at Heathrow) around 6.30pm to go into the terminal and I’ll be home at 10pm. Of course, I miss the kids, but it’s easy as I’m so close to the airport. BA cabin crew have been commuting as I do for years, and to be honest some of the guys in the office have a longer commute back to Cambridge. I’m lucky that BA is open to flexible working and lets me live here. But it’s easy with the internet, and they get a good deal too: I’m more relaxed when I come to work nowadays — I can think better. I don’t miss Britain one iota, in fact I refuse even to have British TV; we live in Spain now.

NICOLA HOBDAY
Financial journalist, lives in Hammersmith, West London. Her daily commute to the City takes her an hour.

I think of my commute as average for London, but in reality it’s hideous. I get the District Line from Hammersmith to Monument, which takes about an hour. You never get a seat and standing for so long can be arduous, especially if you are wearing high heels. The carriages are cramped, hot and stuffy and tempers get frayed. I’m considering getting a bike. But I think it might be a little ambitious — I fear I’d get crushed by a bus.

MARTIN SAUNDERS
Commercial director of a pharmaceuticals company. Commutes from Seaford on the East Sussex coast to Brentwood in Essex.

I get up at 5.45am every day and leave my house at 6.30am. The drive to Brentwood takes about two-and-a-half hours — I get to the office around 9am. But the M25 can be hideous. One day there had been a lorry crash. I didn’t get to the office until 5.30pm. I leave work at 7pm most nights and get home at 9.30pm or 10pm. My wife’s used to it. I’ve always commuted. I’m the director of a company now. I have a huge share in the firm and I’m 53 — there is no incentive for me to switch jobs. I have a big car and when the traffic gets bad, I get out my laptop and work until we move again.

JUSTIN SAUNDERS
Co-founder of eMapSite.com, a Hampshire-based online digital mapping service. Lives in the Lot region of France.

We moved to the Lot, south of Dordogne, three years ago. We were fed up with how crowded the southeast had got and wanted a better quality of life. We traded our small cottage in Surrey for a five-bedroom manor house, an orchard and swimming pool on the edge of the village of Albas. And it cost less. Normally, I’ll spend a ten-day stretch in England, then come back for four days. I leave Albas at 5am and fly from Toulouse to Heathrow. I can be in London for a 9.30am meeting. My wife, Robin, runs a B&B here and looks after renting out the cottage that we own. I don’t think she minds that I am gone for a lot of the time: the quality time I have with my family when I am back is so much better. There is a real community in Albas. We have a great social life. And it’s fabulous for our children (Antonia, 6, and Georgia, 4). I don’t worry about security here when they are out playing.

TANIA CAGNONI
Writer and photographer. Splits her time between the Côte d’Azur and London.

I left London in September 2001. I’d been having a stressful time at work, so when I was sent to Nice I fell in love with it and decided to move here. I have a lovely apartment on the edge of Vence, a town about 30 minutes from Nice, and a flat in Shoreditch. I tend to fly over to London for six to eight weeks, where I work as a picture editor, and then spend weeks in France writing travel features and taking photographs. I love the lifestyle and people say I look years younger since I moved here. I avoid the pressures of living in London full time. I admit I sometimes miss the buzz, but I can be in Monaco for dinner in 30 minutes, and the cost of living is cheaper. I’m a bit of a foodie, and in London you can easily spend at least £200 a week on eating out. In France it’s more like £50.

Interviews by Ruth Elkins