This article talks about why people study abroad. It showed in a study that Americans wanted to go study abroad more then Britains. However when they asked the reason why, most Americans said for fun travel and to explore other cultures, whereas Britains wanted to study abroad for professional reasons.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/who-studies-abroad-who-stays-put-and-why/?_r=0
