When Sophie Bouali looked at the next 30 years of her life, the prospect of grinding away to pay off her $910,000 Brisbane mortgage sounded increasingly unappealing.

Like so many of us, she was itching for something more — homeownership without the crushing financial pressure.

Finding herself thinking, "What else is there?", an outlandish idea popped into her head… but instead of dismissing it as a midnight pipe dream, Sophie and her partner Adam decided to act.

They bought a house in Italy. For just $110,000 AUD.

This time next year, Sophie will be soaking up the Italian summer sunshine and living La Dolce Vita — and she's counting down the days.

And it all started with a simple Google search.

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"I thought, 'I wonder how much houses are in Italy?' And I just Googled it and came across some places," Sophie told Mamamia. "Without any research or anything, just like, 'Oh, there's a little apartment in Tuscany for 100 grand.'"

The discovery planted the seed of a permanent Italian escape.

"I was like, 'Oh, wow. Is it actually affordable over there?' And then it just started my year-long search of researching properties in Italy," Sophie said.

At first, Italy felt like a random choice, but the more Sophie researched, the more it seemed like fate.

With Italian grandparents, Sophie has always felt a deep connection to Italy — a connection she hoped could work in her favour when it came to securing citizenship.

"It just sort of fell into place after I found out that I was eligible," she said.

Adam and Sophie in Italy. Image: Supplied.

The process certainly hasn't been simple. But after years of careful planning, two trips to Italy and several property viewings later, Sophie and Adam are the proud new owners of a semi-detached house in the historic city of Acquapendente, located in the northern Lazio region right on the border of Tuscany.

In Brisbane, Sophie's home was about 30 minutes from the CBD. In Italy, she'll be less than two hours from Rome. And while that might sound far to some, Sophie pointed out that plenty of Australians commute two hours to work every single day.

"We bought a house in Italy for the price it cost for a ute in Australia," Sophie said, still in disbelief.

"People I tell casually, they're shocked. I think because you can't do that here."

The property market in Italy is vastly different to Australia. While Australians tend to view real estate as a wealth-generating investment, Italians see a home as a family sanctuary — a legacy to be passed down through generations, rather than flipped for a profit.

But Sophie knows not everyone has a spare $110,000 lying around; she didn't either.

"We didn't necessarily have 110k in the bank ready for us," she said. "[Adam] sold his business. He had an electrical company, and he sold that and then we put that money into the house."

At the moment, they're renting the property out until they can make the permanent move.

In Brisbane, Sophie's home was about 30 minutes from the city. Now, she'll be less than two hours from Rome.

And while that might sound far to some people, Sophie pointed out some people commute two hours to work every day in Australia.

The view from Sophie's Italian home. Source: Supplied.

The couple plan to sell their Brisbane home before they leave, a decision that's proved divisive online. While some people have urged Sophie to hold on to it "just in case", she is determined to go all in.

"I think even if we do hate it, it's something I've always wanted to do," she said.

"I'd rather come back in five, 10 years knowing that I've done it, than just never do it because I'm scared, or I let someone's grandma tell me that, 'oh, they didn't like it 20 years ago', so, therefore I won't like it."

If all goes to plan, they'll move to Italy later this year, with Sophie entering as an Italian citizen.

If the paperwork stalls, they plan to apply for temporary visas and transition to permanent residency.

To fund their new life, Sophie and Adam have taken over her family's online language resource business, which they can operate completely remotely from Europe. And once they settle in, they hope to buy a fixer-upper property to renovate and rent out.

"Why not? It's kind of fun. It's a bit of an adventure," Sophie said.

Their new Italian abode. Image: Supplied.

Ultimately, Sophie is just excited for a profound change of pace.

"Where we've got our property, it's located in the centre of a historic town, so I'm really excited to walk everywhere," she said.

"I'm excited to speak Italian every day because I love learning it, and it's been so much fun."

But most importantly, she's ready for the emotional freedom being completely mortgage-free will bring to her life.

"We'll be able to not work as much," she said. "We've got our own businesses that can have a bit more flexibility for us, so just freedom and flexibility really."

Oh, and the gelato, of course.

Sophie has been sharing her journey online to document the transition and encourage other people to take the leap if they've been dreaming of an alternative path.

Because if this experience has taught her anything, it's that there's no single right way to live your life and adventure is out there in the unknown.

"It's not easy," Sophie said. "But nothing worth doing ever is."

Feature image: Supplied.