Concerned for her kids’ safety, she traded the hustle of Las Vegas for life on a sleepy Italian island

By Silvia Marchetti, CNN

(CNN) — For more than a decade, Debra Coltune’s life revolved around the relentless pace and gridlocked traffic of Las Vegas. As a video presenter and food critic, she felt she was constantly hustling just to stay ahead — precariously trying to balance work and family life.

Now, her days begin with a morning stroll to a market where locals greet her with a warm “buongiorno.” Two years ago, fed up with the noise and neon of Vegas, she decided to swap them for the peace and calm of Carloforte, a sleepy village on a small island off the coast of the large Italian island of Sardinia.

“Las Vegas was all flashing lights, constant energy, and a fast-paced rhythm,” she says. “In contrast, Sardinia is serene. The island moves at its own gentle pace, surrounded by natural beauty and a calm that touches every part of daily life.”

Coltune’s change of life began in 2023 when she traveled on assignment to the small island of San Pietro, off the southwestern tip of Sardinia, where fewer than 6,000 people live, to act as a judge at a local tuna festival in Carloforte — little suspecting it would soon become her home.

But she immediately fell in love with the picturesque landscape surrounded by clear waters. She found life there a refreshing contrast to the daily routines and anxieties back in Vegas. And so in 2024, together with her children Aiden and Kaiya and the family’s two poodles, she decided to make the move.

Island rhythms

The transition wasn’t easy.

There were the bureaucratic complexities of Italian residency to negotiate, and the local real estate market. Coltune decided to lease at first instead of buying property. Wary of the contrast with Las Vegas, she wanted to give her family a chance to experience Carloforte before fully committing.

“I needed to understand the island’s rhythm and how my children and I would adjust after the ‘big city, big lights’ life in Las Vegas,” she says. Initially, Coltune stretched her budget, paying $2,500 a month for a classically furnished seafront villa — expensive for the island, but better value than Vegas.

The charming property provided a soft landing and convinced her to stay. Once she decided the island would work, she found a more affordable option for a monthly rent of $800.

“Now that we are here, I am ready to take that next step — actively look for a home to purchase, one where we can truly put down roots and make the little island our forever home.”

“I knew I had to see it in person before committing, just to confirm it was real,” she adds.

She has kept her house in Las Vegas and returns often to visit family, including two older children, but she says Carloforte is where she now truly feels at home.

Largely insulated from mass tourism and the high-profile luxury that defines Sardinia’s northern Emerald Coast, Carloforte has been little changed by modern life. The village is the last place in Italy to practice tuna trapping, a traditional fishing practice seen as more sustainable than some contemporary techniques.

Blue zone living

The island’s culinary identity is built around the harvest. The food it provides no doubt contributes to its status as a so-called “blue zone” — a region mapped by scientists where good lifestyles, diet, environment and genes contribute to a healthy population that lives well into old age.

“One of the main reasons we chose this move was to embrace a healthier lifestyle in a true blue zone, where longevity and wellbeing are part of daily life,” Coltune says. “I chose Sardinia and Carloforte because I was striving for better health and calmness. It’s the peaceful and tranquil life I was searching for on a quiet beautiful island.”

Carloforte’s physical environment is equally distinct. Pastel-colored buildings are adorned with features more typically found in the northern Italian city of Genoa — a throwback to the 18th century when the Genoese settled the island.

Coltune’s routine on the island bears little resemblance to her previous lifestyle in the United States. Her mornings are “pure magic.” She enjoys strolling through gentle sea breezes and sunshine to the local market.

“Everything is within arm’s reach, so walking is second nature around the island,” she says. “Exercise is just part of life here, and feels effortless.”

That contrasts with her life back in Vegas, where her routine had become a slog. Each day involved climbing into her car for long battles with the traffic. Walking was rare and even a trip to get groceries involved a drive.

At times, she still misses the large, comfy BMW X5 she drove in America. In Carloforte, she now drives a smaller, more practical Citroën, more suited to the narrow roads. Often, she has no need for a car and mainly uses it when she rides the ferry to mainland Sardinia.

Luxury longings

“I won’t lie, I miss some of the US luxuries, like the shopping malls where everything is right there, and the wide roads, but honestly, the island fills me with such joy,” she adds. “It just grounds me in a way that Vegas never did.”

The cost of living in Carloforte is another bonus. With access to coastal real estate and high quality local ingredients falling well within her budget, her new lifestyle is a dramatic departure from the financial reality of the United States. She has found work as an event promoter for the annual Girotonno tuna festival and consulting with local restaurateurs.

As part of her effort to integrate with local culture, she’s enjoyed sharing her own heritage and traditions. For the past two years, she has been ordering turkeys and making a Thanksgiving meal for up to 30 people, among the many people she now counts as friends on the island.

Coltune is also making efforts to learn the language, taking regular classes and conversing with local friends who rarely speak English. Still, she’s being left behind by her children, who are picking it up at a faster pace — especially her son whose skills are “blossoming” thanks to private lessons.

Although it was difficult at first, Coltune says her children seemed to make friends quickly and settled in. Both children will be fully enrolled in the local public education system by the end of the summer. She says the schools seem safer than in the US — a world away from concerns over gun crime.

‘A beautiful, safe bubble’

The move has also allowed her more of a hands-on role in their upbringing. “I enjoy teaching my children the rich blend of culture and adventure,” she says. Her goal now is “balancing a dynamic career while bringing warmth, wisdom and global perspective to our close-knit family life.”

Coltune says her family’s arrival on the island generated initial skepticism from the local community; she says she could “sense some of the whispers.”

“I think people wondered what my purpose was, being one of the only Americans on the island,” she says. “There were definitely some doubts and cautious glances. But over time, they saw how deeply I love the island and now I’m a part of their daily rhythm.”

Today, she says, market vendors greet her by name and ask about her children — and even the dog.

She says the small island’s sense of community is very different from her own upbringing.

“I always feel safe. My children have this freedom I never had growing up in Chicago,” she says. “I know where they are, who they are with, and it’s just a beautiful, safe bubble we get to live and thrive in.”

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