A few days ago, I was chatting to a friend from the UK and she remarked on how glamourous my life was being away in Switzerland and skiing at the weekends etc. while she had the reality of being a full time mum. "Trust me, it isn't glamourous at all!" I told her.

Well, today, the opposite scenario happened. A couple of girls (twins!) I know from my old dance studio in London got in contact and asked "Hey, what are you up to on the 12th? We're launching our new album, can you make it to the launch party?" I looked at my calendar, and saw "KFC" on there. F--- me. Has my life become so boring that a going to KFC is the highlight of my weekend (no offence, fellow KFC'ers).

Anyone else had experiences that have brought them crashing down to reality?

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To be honest my life has never been glamorous, don't know any pop stars or celebrities, though I did used to do Peter Kay's wife's auntie's (I think) feet!

I used to get the same reaction, people thought I was off skiing every weekend ( last time I skied, badly, was in 1988), thought we lived in a chalet in the mountains, (we rent a flat attached to a hospital), thought we were rolling in money, (I don't work so we can't splash out too often), thought I would get a glamorous job (see last brackets, I am a Hausfrau).

In conclusion, I would say my life is about as glamorous as it always was(n't), but you know what? I've never been happier.

Well, Phil, I have to admit that my life was a lot more glamouros when I graced the halls of Hild Bede - I owned more "black tie gear" than normal clothes. Daddy paid for my flight back to Helvetistan three times a year and all I really had to worry about was whether to go to the rowing club bop or attend another themed bar crawl. Then my father lost his job and I had to come back to Switzerland, actually WORK for my money and worry about which bills I pay THIS month and which ones will have to wait. Meanwhile, my friends from college seem to be on a never-ending tour of the world / champagne fuelled events / launch parties and amazing jobs with even more amazing pay checks. Others are adding another barrell to their name (I'm waiting for one of them to go for four, it'll happen any day now), learning to fly and so on.

Ah well, at least I have something to be wistful about, a lot of people don't even have that. I see the current situation as a sort of "sitting in the waiting room of life before the next big exciting adventure starts". Although there are some pretty exciting and glamouros interludes, I just better not put those on the internet.

Yesterday. I binged on junk food at Zurich airport's burger king. And I thought it was my treat of the week.

Life in UK< Life in Switzerland...for me anyway

Ah! My life got a 180 turn when I moved to CH. From big restaurants, bars, parties, fashion shows, VIP events, magazines articles, shootings, travels, A-lists people, etc., name it.

To a stay-at-home mom in small Basel. Found it very difficult to handle the change.

UK - full time job, very well paid, respected in my profession for my knowledge (various mentions in professional directories etc) in a senior position, lots of evening dos, black tie, even a bit of travel (my job was not known for it).

Now .. well as I type I have just picked off a piece of squashed potato from my sock that my 3 year old dropped on the floor ("no 'tato") and next to me is a piece of paper on which I am writing my next Aldi shopping list.

On the glamour stakes UK:1 CH:0.

But I still agree with Kevlegs Maybe not strictly glamourous but it's what I want (most of the time).

Probably not more glamourous (whatever that means), but it has certainly broadened our horizons and improved our standard of living; we've visted several european countries/cities either on business or holidays, we are homeowners, our kids are bilingual, we can have really nice holidays without scrimping and saving, we have a multinational circle of friends etc etc. On top of that we have both gained further qulaifications and are comfortable conversing in a foreign language on a day to day basis.

Isn't glamour for luvvies and the insecure though ?

All of my friends think it's very glamorous that I have a Swiss bank account. I think they imagine some swish private bank and a numbered account, plus a safe deposit box where I hide my gold bars, cash, and spare passports/identities in case I need to make a quick getaway.

Somehow the reality of having a basic PostFinance e-Deposito doesn't quite live up to the hype...

Not glamourous, maybe sophisticated?

Too short....so tell us about the twins and your dance studios days! I thought I recognised you from the Pineapple mockumentary!

Ah but you don't have to tell them that. Just stick to the basic facts and let them imagine the glamour, then sit back and bask in your glamourous aura. We won't tell.

My life has never been glamorous but that's the way I want it and how I like it.
I'm not the partying type, so, as newlyweds without children, when my husband and I moved here, our lives stayed the same. We both had good jobs back home and were able to improve on our careers when we moved here.

Work wise it's only changed for me as since we have had children, I am a stay at home mom.

I live the same life, just subtitled.

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

To those in Australia our life here seems glamourous. But then people here can't understand why we left Australia...

What we lost out on in the move here we gained in other ways. So it's probably the same overall. Definitely what we lost in monetary value we gained in relationship strength and happiness. I'd take that over glamour any day.

Try a credit card

Before, I was a student and could only afford to eat noodles.

Here, I am paid, and can choose when I eat noodles.

That's glamour enough for me.

We're ex Aussies as well and agree that while we lived a more glam life in Oz, we seem to have a much better quality of life here. Certainly, we enjoy family time a lot more, the kids are bi-lingual and experiencing so much more and I guess, the Swiss are a lot less bling-y in general, so that takes the pressure off wanting the more artificial things in life. I have to say, with a rather long time since KFC I would take it over a glam event anytime!!

How can you get more glamorous than being greeted with a banner on your arrival at KFC? Seriously!

We've gone from rural SW England to expat champagne lifestyle in gay Paris, now to Basel (well, the burbs of Basel), so pretty dramatic changes.

Our basic life is the same - family, friends, school, work work - but there's a huge difference in the lifestyle. I go out far, far less here, dress worse, see less 'culture' and probably just do less. I have to confess that I do still miss my old life in Paris, even though I see many of the advantages of living in Switzerland (we do ski a lot!).