This article makes a case for analysis of romantic relationships during international education programs. Study abroad programs promise cultural immersion and place students in settings where romantic relationships may be the most accessible way to achieve this immersion. Yet programs may fail to prepare students to navigate dating and romance during study abroad. We draw on participant observation and interviews with former study abroad participants, program staff, and host community members in Dakar, Senegal to examine how cross-cultural romances emerge in the study abroad setting. We argue that study abroad programs would benefit from explicit and sustained attention to gender relations, love, and intimacy in pre-departure orientations, upon arrival in host settings, and throughout the duration of the programs. We also contend that romantic relationships during study abroad merit sustained ethnographic inquiry to better understand how and why these relationships take place, how they afford opportunities for student learning, and how they shape perceptions of study abroad learners by the host community.