If you’ve traveled abroad recently or have been dreaming of traveling abroad, you know the urge to pick up and move can be overwhelming. Instead of just planning an excursion for your PTO, you find yourself looking at residences in your prospective country of choice or Googling to learn more about the day-to-day life there. Whether it’s a change that comes sooner or later, here are the five stages of knowing when it’s time to move abroad.

1. You’re getting frustrated with American life

You loathe the way our society overworks and if you hear another person claim that Chipotle has the best tacos on earth you’re going to scream. You know that there’s a world that’s much bigger that our materialistic, restaurant-chain-dependent country and you’re aching to see it. 

2. You Google photos at work/scan Instagram every 10 minutes  

Going through Travel Noire’s Instagram for the 15th time today? Trying to find new Flickr accounts that document the wonders of West Africa or Central America? Sounds like you should be booking a ticket and packing your camera right now.       

3. Secretly budgeting for what “could be”

Do you find yourself turning down nights out with friends because you know you should be saving for, well, something? Are you suddenly skipping that latte from your favorite coffee shop because you know that the $5 you’d spend on the overly-sweet drink could get you a pretty fancy dinner in Indonesia? What “could be” will turn into “what will be” a lot faster than you think.    

4. Searching for programs abroad instead of some store’s newest fall collection

Instead of searching for your ideal look for the season, you’re looking for programs abroad in your field abroad. Marketing? IT? Education? You had no idea that it is possible to build your career somewhere else outside of your hometown or the Tri-state area. Big cities like Chicago, D.C., and New York are amazing, but you know that they will always be here, and this opportunity to pick up and move might not.           

5. Turning in that resignation letter

You did it. You quit that unfulfilling job. Maybe you have something lined up and maybe you don’t. What you do have is a sense of pride, power and confidence in the future. You know that nothing is certain and that you might have to jump through a lot of hoops to get to that dream destination, but, like anyone who’s a true Wanderluster at heart, you know every bit of the journey will be worth it.