Cheyoba far from home – Supa Fik

When you move to a new country, the loneliness can be louder than the city traffic. You are fighting every day just to keep your head above water, searching for “greener pastures” while your heart is heavy.

In that vulnerable space, it’s easy to lean on the first person who offers a hand. “Cheyoba” represents that “foreign lover”, the one who provides the stability and comfort you desperately need to survive the transition.

They become your anchor in a stormy sea, giving you a sense of belonging when you feel most like a ghost in a strange land. But there is a quiet truth that hits when the lights go out: survival is not the same as soul.

I wrote this to speak on a reality many travellers know but rarely admit. It’s about the “convenient love” we settle for when we are just trying to get by.

You might lose yourself in this new comfort, momentarily forgetting the love waiting back home, but a bridge built only for survival cannot stand forever. Eventually, that bridge collapses because it was a temporary shelter, not a home.

“Cheyoba” is the moment of clarity when you realize that no matter how stable this new life feels, it can never replace the connection you left behind. It’s the realization that your heart is still thousands of miles away. 

“We travel for better pastures, and sometimes we settle for ‘Cheyoba’ to get by. But eventually, the heart remembers where it truly belongs.” — Supa Fik