"See, a year earlier, I had attempted a semester abroad at university in Jacksonville. As you’ve probably guessed by the word 'attempted', this didn’t end well and eight days after I arrived, I was on the plane home again. I had to pay the rent for the first two months of my student accommodation upfront to the university, and because I ended up going home early, they owed me this money back. After a LONG battle trying to get back the money that was rightly mine (this battle included everything from trying to get US-based friends to collect the money, to a refusal from the university to pay it into my account and many, many more frustrating things that are too complicated to list here), I admitted defeat and decided to fly back to Jacksonville to collect in person a cheque for the money that they owed me. It was costly and time-consuming but I got my money back, which was something at least. Plus, I got a little holiday from it."