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Aim: To present and discuss our experiences of learning how to establish and maintain an international collaboration as early career nurse researchers residing in the United States and Australia. Background: International research collaborations require additional startup time given the complexities of navigating cultural differences, obtaining ethics committee approvals in different countries and collecting human subject data. International collaborations may be daunting for early career researchers given their inexperience and pragmatic focus on research projects that lead to outputs achievable on short timelines for career advancement. Design: Discussion paper. Data Sources: Evidence from international literature about global collaborations across numerous disciplines, including potential factors that could facilitate or constrain early career researcher efforts to engage in international collaborations, were combined with authors' lived experiences as early career researchers. Discussion: Our collaboration began in July 2022 through a professional introduction spurred by a call for applications to fund global nursing education collaborations. Interpersonal, logistical and organizational factors played a role in our lived experiences of beginning an international collaboration. Our experiences are consistent with published literature about the time and complexity involved in conducting international research. Conclusion: Investing time building interpersonal relationships strengthens international research and supports collaborative learning and intercultural understanding. These professional relationships can be built over time to develop significant bodies of research with international impact. Early career researchers need to be resilient, persistent and tenacious as they 'jump through hoops' to establish international research collaborations. Impact: Building relationships during international research collaborations supports collaborative learning for intercultural understanding and strengthens research to address emerging global problems. International nursing research collaborations could encourage greater curiosity, innovative ideas and solutions to international problems that could not be achieved in isolation. Patient or Public Contribution: There was no patient or public involvement in the design and development of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]