As I sat at the airport lobby waiting for my flight back to Nairobi, I couldn't help feeling nervous over heading back to reality - a reality I'd hoped to escape for as long as possible.
A remote village in Malindi was my refuge of choice, where I got to live two weeks off the grid with my heaviest baggage consisting of the clothes on my back and a few essentials.
I’d taken time off to press a hard reset on my life after disconnecting from everything and everyone I knew.
The blacked out screen on my phone looked peaceful but the chaos of what awaited when it was switched on is what I dreaded most.
In what seemed like an emergency at the time, I had left my immediate contacts two weeks ago with a "Will be offline for a while, be back soon" text which I am sure left more questions than answers.
I could have divulged more information so as not to quell the panic, but I had reached my breaking point or rather the breaking point had hammered itself into me severally after years of denial that I was indeed broken.
"Flight to Nairobi boarding in 10 minutes," the calm yet affirming voice on the public address system rang in the hall.
“Almost time to go,” I lamented the thought. I had this urge to dash out of the airport and into the village on the mkeka that became bearable after sleeping on it for several days.
My daydream about that beachlife was interrupted by the passenger seated next to me. I tried to avoid at all costs any eye contact or give off signs that I was interested in having a conversation.
"Are you okay, you seem disturbed?" he asked, turning towards me. I pretended not to hear as I turned away.
After few seconds of an awkwardness, I could feel his gaze piercing through my back so I dismissively responded, "I'm good, don't worry," But he persisted, "Are you sure? You've been mumbling a lot of things to yourself this past half hour. Ama ni Mombasa Raha?"
I didn't want to engage him any further, so I just nodded and that gave him a leeway to embark on what seemed to be his life story.
Within 10 minutes, which seemed to be an eternity, he'd told everything from his two divorces and blended family, to his previous jobs in Australia and the winding road that got him to pursue his Masters in ... (I forgot) - I don't know who holds the record for the most words spoken in ten minutes but this guy sure would put up a worthy contender.
Just as he was jumping into what I believe was the blossoming of his third marriage, we were called to board. I interrupted him, as courteously as possible, I excused myself to board the plane but he latched on to me as we checked in and made our way to the tarmac.
My only saving grace was the hope that our seat assignments were separated by the Red Sea, but it is probable that Moses was on duty on that day as fate would have it we were seated side by side, "great!"
As soon as we had stored our bags in the overhead luggage compartment, he unpaused, "So what do you do?" and I responded, "I'm in insurance."
He made a joke about insurance that I found amusing but I couldn't give him the pleasure of knowing he was entertaining.
"You love your job?" he asked as I looked out the window pretending to marvel at the airplane wing.
"I take that as a no," he responded to his own question.
At this point I had nothing to lose so I started to tell him my predicament with how I was overwhelmed by work that I did and left everything behind me.
"Why?" he asked.
"I was working more hours and spending less time with my family, I was generally unhappy," I responded.
"No! Why did you let it get to that point? Didn't you have a plan?" he queried.
Upon further detailing of my issues at work, I somehow felt a weight off my shoulders and shared more.
"You know what I think?" It's funny how I was hanging on every word by this stranger whom I had so vehemently rejected his attempts to connect with a minute barely an hour earlier.
"You need to plan your career pathway. You are frustrated because you are working against your skills and passions which makes the long hours not worthy," he explained.
That's when he mentioned “craydel” which is a platform offering access to career guidance, courses and institutions across Africa and the world.
He stated that his platform offers a scientific career match assessment to help rethink my career choices.
"It is perfect as it will help you understand your career motivators," he added. As he spoke we had made our descent into Nairobi and were already taxiing.
Everyone rushed to their phones and I naturally did the same, curious to see what the website had to offer.
As my phone went on, the notification flooded in, symbolic of the chaos that was awaiting me, but I didn't seem to mind. Before responding to any message I logged on to the website.
I immediately spotted the career guidance section. The assessment is supposed to match my personality with potential careers, understand my motivators and recommend courses that align with my ideal career. I knew this was what I needed to plan my career pathway.
I browsed the institutions on offer to see if the platform options that I could review, I immediately saw a university in London I thought I'd never get a chance to attend. I’m interested in photography too so I knew I’d browse the vocational courses when I got the chance later.
I immediately clicked the “Buy Online” and left my details for the team to reach me... the rest I would continue at home.
As we walked out of the airport building, I called an Uber as his driver came to pick him up. We exchanged pleasantries one last time.
"I'm John by the way," he stated making us realise we hadn't introduced each other," and I'm Mike, pleasure"
That chance encounter unravelled a series of events in my life, events that were planned and geared towards a purposeful life. I did go ahead and pursue the course I had eyed. That was after realising I was not really prospering in the insurance sector.
After completing the course I got a job that paid me thrice what I was earning before and had more flexible hours which gives me more time to spend with my family.
Mama watoto forgave me for going awol for those two weeks.
To this day, I think about John, the annoying stranger who lifted my spirits when I was at my lowest and ended up impacting my life in the most positive way. I am thankful!