Most people don’t know Delta flies nonstop from JFK to Sardinia. Eight and a half hours and you land in Olbia, the gateway to the Costa Smeralda, which is the part of Italy that makes Amalfi look busy. The flight runs $953 roundtrip right now for late July. That’s the whole flight. No connection in Rome, no six-hour layover in Munich. You leave New York at 6:30pm and you’re eating breakfast in Sardinia the next morning.

Flight: Delta, JFK to Olbia (OLB). Nonstop. 8 hours 30 minutes. Departs 6:30pm, arrives 9:00am. $953 roundtrip, July 22 to July 29. Search on Google Flights now, prices move fast.

Villa: Lia, Sardinia via The Thinking Traveller. 4 bedrooms, sleeps 8, private pool with sea views near Costa Smeralda. 7 nights from $4,200 total. Split 8 ways, that’s $525 per person for the week. Per person per night: $75.

Total per person for 7 nights (flight + villa): $953 + $525 = $1,478. In Sardinia. With a private pool.

The Costa Smeralda is what Italy looks like when people stop worrying about the bill. Emerald water you can see through to the bottom. Pink granite boulders. Beaches so protected from boat traffic they stay flat when the rest of the Mediterranean is choppy.

The nuraghe are all over the island, Bronze Age stone towers built 3,500 years ago that nobody fully understands. You drive past them between towns and they’re just sitting in olive groves, completely unmarked. Restaurants in Olbia run $25-40 per person with wine. You need a rental car because the island doesn’t make sense without one.

The La Maddalena Archipelago is 45 minutes by boat from Palau. Seventeen islands, some accessible only by water, some with beaches that don’t appear in travel guides because nobody has commercialized them yet. Spend a full day out there. It’s the kind of thing you talk about for years.

The flight: Search Google Flights for JFK to OLB, departing July 22. Delta nonstop, 8h30m. Book as soon as you see it, these disappear.

The villa: Browse The Thinking Traveller Sardinia collection. Filter by number of guests. If Lia is booked, Cargiu and Maria are very similar and on the same part of the island.

Rent a boat in Palau for the La Maddalena day trip. Book it before you leave home. The best operators sell out two weeks ahead in July.

Forward this to your group chat. This is the trip you keep saying you’ll do.