This qualitative study explores how emotions are experienced and handled during international service-learning (ISL) initiatives. It involved one focus group discussion and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with six college students engaged in a 10-day ISL project in Burkina Faso. Their accounts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four major themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) awareness of emotions; (2) regulation of emotions; (3) reflection on emotions; and (4) transformation of emotions. The importance of emotional experiences in ISL are underscored in this study and the potential of ISL to become a means to help deepen students' experiential learning is demonstrated.