Debi Mazar Says Moving Family to Italy Was the 'Best Decision': 'A Real Journey for Me'

"I know that one day they'll thank me," Debi Mazar tells PEOPLE of her daughters Evelina, 19, and Giulia, 16

Debi Mazar is opening up about her family's new routine as full-time residents of Italy.

The actress, 57, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands now, that moving to Italy with daughters Evelina, 19, and Giulia, 16, and husband Gabriele Corcos was the "best decision," calling her new home "magical" and an "amazing" experience for her girls.

"I have been dragging my kids on airplanes to countries all over the world since they're born. I like that. I want them to understand culture and art, and different cities," says Mazar.

"It's been amazing because now that they live in Europe, my daughter, who's 16, has friends come from the states," the Younger star explains. "They jump on trains. They go to Venice for the day. They go to Rome for the day. They go to Milan for a weekend. They go to concerts in other cities here. My oldest flies to Israel, Madrid, Barcelona."

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"I'm very much about letting their wings, which were clipped, take flight," she adds of her parenting style.

"I always drive my kids everywhere and take them out and around, and try to orchestrate seeing art, and going out to fun things," she says. "It's been an amazing journey."

Debi Mazar daughters
Debi Mazar/Instagram

Mazar, who made the decision to move before the pandemic, says her family's time in Italy has been "wonderful" and that her two daughters are "acclimating really well."

"Moving here, my daughter, my youngest one had to go to a school that speaks English and Italian because she had to learn, whereas my older one is fluent because we only spoke Italian in the house when she was growing up, for the most part," she explains. "In Brooklyn, she went to Murrow. Murrow had an Italian program, which she was in the advanced placement."

"I feel like I made a decision out of love, and being brave, because it's not easy to move teenagers to a foreign country, put them in school, have them go, 'Wait, what? What?' " the New York native continues. "I know that one day they'll thank me."

For more on Debi Mazar, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

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