This chapter explores student learning in an international setting and the importance that students place on the international setting when they are considering where to study abroad. It examines how the social distance of foreign sites from America has been reduced in recent years due to globalization, politics, the Internet, internationalization of the curriculum, and the value the job market places on global competency. In the author's discussion, he draws upon recent research he completed with forty-five American students studying in Ireland with the study-abroad provider Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) in the summer and fall semesters of 2009. As part of that research, the students kept a daily record of the time, duration, and mode of their communication with home occurring predominantly via e-mail, Facebook, and Skype. The fall student sample also completed a survey, which illustrated the reasons they chose to study abroad, and the role played by their faculty advisors in the decision-making process. This article illustrates how trends in student expectations and experiences of study-abroad are challenging the cross-border collaborations of universities and study-abroad providers to match these expectations with relevant academic and cultural experiences. Concepts discussed in this article are connected to the work the author has completed with the Office of International Education of Beloit College, which has been funded by the Fulbright Commission and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.