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Danish Many of us dream about living somewhere different. It usually starts with a trip to a place we fall in love with, where we leave a piece of our heart. And then the questions start: “how can I actually make this dream real and move there?”, “No, maybe it’s too hard”. “I don’t know where to start”. “What if I don’t actually like it once I’m there?”
These are just some of the questions that plague our minds. And too often, they lead people to give up on a dream that was absolutely doable – but in our heads seemed too difficult. For Charlotte Fortier-Mutzl, this choice came almost by accident while she was traveling. And then, a series of coincidences brought her to Rome and finally to Sardinia, an island she decided to live on before ever visiting it – an island that, in a way, chose her.
The Start: Selling Everything and Buying a One-Way Ticket
Charlotte grew up in Quebec. At 12, her family moved to Florida, where she spent her teenage years before eventually settling in San Diego. For a while, she thought that was it – she’d found her place.
But life had other plans. She got married too young. The relationship didn’t work out. And after the breakup, there was this growing feeling she couldn’t shake – the sense that there was more to the world than what she’d been taught.
“I kind of grew up feeling like the United States and Canada were the center of the world, and I knew that there was more out there. And so I had this need to go experience something else.”
So she did what most people only talk about doing. She sold her car. Sold everything she owned. Bought a one-way ticket to Europe and spent two months traveling solo through seven countries. And somewhere between the train rides and the hostels and the uncertainty, she fell in love with Italy.
After getting her yoga teaching certification in Barcelona, she moved to Rome on a working holiday visa. She had no real plan – just taught yoga in parks, worked evening shifts at a bar, au paired for families. Then one day she walked into a cocktail bar near the Vatican for a job interview, and met Ari, the man who would become her husband.
Living in Rome during COVID
They stayed in Rome for about three years. Had their first son. Opened a Mexican restaurant together -Charlotte pregnant at the time, getting menus ready, training staff, sorting suppliers. They were open less than two months and almost turning a profit when COVID shut everything down.
Their landlord gave them no breaks. For a year, they still had to pay rent for the restaurant, and eventually had no choice but to sell it at a loss.
By then, they’d lived in 12 different apartments since their son was born. Rome, which had once felt full of possibility, now felt chaotic and exhausting. So they started looking for a different answer.
Umbria seemed promising. They rented a room in an agriturismo for six months, started looking at houses, imagining a quieter life. But one day, walking outside in their boots, freezing, Charlotte looked at her husband: “What are we doing? We’re looking to live here – it’s too cold for me.”
Having grown up in Florida and California, she missed the warmth, the sea. So she did what any of us would do – got online and started Googling. Warmest places in Italy. Scuba diving. Snorkeling.
That’s how she stumbled across Sardinia.
Her husband thought she was crazy. An island they’d never seen? But within a week, she’d convinced him, found a house online near Cagliari and made an offer. A few days later, they were on a ferry headed to Sardinia.
“Neither of us had ever seen Sardinia, so we really took a risk. And I have been so pleasantly surprised ever since we arrived.”
Moving to Sardinia: From One Renovation to the Next
The location near Cagliari turned out to be exactly right – so much so that they decided to have their second child there. The town is close enough to beaches and to the city. They found a great bilingual school where their kids picked up Italian quickly.
“The bilingual school here has an indoor pool, yoga, music therapy, a chef cooking fresh meals, and philosophy classes starting in elementary school. In the US or Canada? That would cost four times more.”
When they arrived, they didn’t know what the next chapter would look like. But it didn’t take long to figure it out. Tourism made sense – between them, they speak four languages and have years of customer service experience. The house they’d bought was already set up as a bifamiliare (two separate units), so they converted it into a rental property.
Encouraged by the success of that first project, they decided to take on another: an abandoned house on the waterfront. After months of daydreaming about what it could become, they made an offer and got it for a great price.
“The renovation took two years. I handled all the interior architecture despite having zero experience in design or construction. It turned into much more work than we anticipated. Plumbing, electrical, outlet placement, door openings – endless micro-decisions.”
What she learned along the way is that you don’t need to know everything yourself – you need to know who to ask. If you don’t speak Italian, it’s always worth consulting a lawyer. But in their case, a good commercialista (accountant) and geometra (technical expert) made the bureaucracy manageable. And now, they’re working on a third property.
Integrating into the Local Community
Moving to Sardinia, says Charlotte, is a completely different experience. You’re fully immersed in nature, between the mountains and the sea – and daily life reflects that. Sometimes they find themselves blocked on the roads because of sheep; weekends are spent discovering new beaches and mountain trails. But most importantly, there’s the quiet confidence of raising their kids in a safe and genuine environment.
“In the States it’s much more work-oriented and materialistic. It feels like a never-ending chase. Here in Sardinia, people can be happy with very little. Less competition, more focus on family and things money can’t buy. I feel like I’ve attained happiness here. I’m not waiting to achieve something to be happy – I already am.“
About a year ago, she decided to share her experience and daily life on Instagram. What started as simple updates grew into something bigger – a community of people from all around the world who fell in love with her story and are now considering making the move themselves:
“I’ve really been enjoying being a bridge between Sardinians and foreigners. I have hundreds, if not thousands, of Sardinians every week recommending places and cultural events. It helps me feel more immersed and like we belong.“
When Charlotte first got to Rome, she spoke zero Italian and learned it along the way, practicing with people around her. “I was absorbing, listening, understanding – but too scared to speak because I didn’t want to make mistakes. And even then, being such a big city, you can get by with English. Here, that’s not really the case.” Now she speaks fluently and is even learning the local dialect.
Charlotte’s Advice: Visit First, But Also Just Do It
Charlotte’s journey reminds us of something we often forget when we’re paralyzed by big decisions: yes, we should think things through and weigh our options carefully – but not every choice in life comes with a clear roadmap or a perfect plan waiting to be discovered.
Sometimes life puts you at a crossroads where the answer isn’t obvious, where there’s no spreadsheet that will tell you what to do. One moment you’re living what feels like a dream. The next, everything seems to be falling apart. And somehow, looking back, it all makes a strange kind of sense.
For anyone thinking about making a move to Italy, her advice is this:
“Come visit properly before moving. Don’t try to do too many cities in a few days. Spend months if you can. It’s not for everyone. It’s less convenient – banks close at lunch, no one-stop mega stores, lots of small shops. You need to experience the slower pace and see if it fits you. And then.. just do it. Many people plan forever and never act. If you want change, you have to make it happen.“
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