We're the Nylons

It was Tina Brown who said: "Once you've lived in London and New York, you can't really be happy in either one." Nowadays, every businessman, model, actress or young entrepreneur worth their salt wants the best of both worlds - a pad in New York and a pied-à-terre in London.

The term for these lucky people is Nylons - New Yorkers and Londoners.

British models Sophie Dahl, Erin O'Connor and Liberty Ross, banker Nat Rothschild and entrepreneur Ben Elliot all wing back and forth on the red-eye flight, having dinner in New York and breakfast at Claridge's.

But what about the expense and hassle of two homes, and the constant jet lag? And do Nylons miss their mums?

More importantly, who looks after the pets, or calls the plumber when the drains get blocked?

Euan Rellie, 35

I run Business Development Asia, an investment banking firm which is based in New York. I keep a flat in the meat-packing district in New York and own a house in Gloucester Road, London, which I share with my wife, Lucy Sykes, who is fashion director of American Marie Claire.

We have lived between London and New York for 10 years. It's actually easy to commute; I fly home 15 times a year. I can leave New York on the 10pm flight and be at my London desk by 10 the next morning.

The disadvantages: it's expensive, although my father keeps an eye on the house in London. And I have a wardrobe in both places - occasionally your DJ is in the wrong place. And your friends often assume you're not around, so you miss a lot of dinner parties.

I love New York for the weather, career opportunities and parties.

There's less petty snobbery there. And living in New York you get same-day, cheap dry-cleaning delivered to your door, and restaurants and bars stay open late.

But New York can be very lonely. I love coming home for the Sunday papers, pubs, real pints, Arsenal and proper sausages. In seven weeks, Lucy is having a baby who will have dual citizenship and that's the ideal.

Nick Jones, 39

I have just opened the private members' club Soho House in New York. I fly every week between the New York club and my home in Chelsea, which I share with my wife, TV presenter Kirsty Young.

I wouldn't want to live in either city exclusively and instead I live a bit like a weekly boarder.

In New York I stay in Soho House and can enjoy the swimming pool on the roof, but these days I get only a cupboard-sized room.

I go back and forth every 10 days; I get on the plane, am asleep within five minutes, and wake up the other end, have a shower and go straight to work.

It is necessary to keep clothes in both places. You can earn more in New York, but renting an apartment is hugely expensive.

There are bits about both cities I love and hate. Taxis in New York are terrible and they don't know where they are going. London is much bigger - New York is really just Mayfair, Soho and Notting Hill. And I miss London weather. We've just had a brutal winter in New York and we are about to have a brutal summer.

Both cities are very different socially. Londoners are more secure, but every night in New York is like New Year's Eve - people don't commit until they know all their options.

But life is more impulsive moving between the two, and I like that.

Bridget Harrison, 32

I half live in New York because I write a Sex and the City-style column for the New York Post. For the past two years I have split my life between a flat in the meatpacking district and my house in Shepherds Bush, which I return to once a month. But it's expensive, what with the rent and a mortgage.

My cat Jake is in London and I really miss him. My friends look after him when I am away and keep an eye on the place. I keep clothes and face creams either end, and I'm used to travelling light now.

The first summer I was in New York, I came back for lots of weddings; the next year, it was christenings and now it's godchildren.

It's a hassle because you only get two weeks' holiday, so you get on the Virgin red-eye on Thursday night, you are jet-lagged when you see your friends, you run around, and come back Sunday. It's very disorientating.

I came back to England on a story recently and it was odd being a foreign reporter in Guildford; it was raining and I missed New York - I had forgotten the village pub won't serve food after 9.30pm.

However, New Yorkers are obsessed about appearances. They think I get dressed by rolling round in my laundry basket.