International academic visits by university faculty members are common around the world. While most researchers approach such an international experience in terms of intercultural communication and acculturation, in this study we view the travel experience as a learning opportunity in light of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory (TLT). Drawing on Singleton’s ‘3H model’ (head-heart-hands), we find that the outcomes of transformative learning (TL) are related to cognitive, affective and behavioral domains, the prevalence of which were then explored among 314 visiting scholars. The results are further interpreted by drawing on key concepts from TLT to better understand the learning process. We conclude that the international experience is beneficial for scholars’ sustainable development, and call for more study abroad opportunities for Chinese university faculty.