Don’t Search. Forage.

By Zachary Kai

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The internet.

As of the time I write this, there’s ~1.13 billion websites in existence. By the time you’ve read this sentence, no doubt there’s now countless more.

And even if you’re looking for something in particular, forget about finding it within one search. You’ll get millions of results, most of which lead you to rabbit holes you never intended to fall down, until you’re three hours deep into reading about something you never wanted to.

Feeling overwhelmed yet?

This is the prevailing sentiment I encounter among folks when they talk about the web. It’s a fair assessment, but it’s not the whole truth.

Allow me to present a philosophy for finding information (or anything) in the vast sea of data.

I call it internet foraging. Unoriginal? Yes. Dare I say, a lifeline? Also yes.

Society has conditioned us to treat the internet like a vending machine. Type in what you want, press enter, and receive the result. But what if that’s the wrong approach?

I owe much of my creative existence and inspiration to the excellent trio of books by Austin Kleon, entitled Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going. When he writes about finding inspiration in the first text in the series, he says:

“Don’t research. Just search.”

I’d like to take that one step further. Don’t search.

Forage.

Imagine with me for a second: you’re walking through an old forest. You didn’t come here looking for anything specific, but as you walk, you notice things. The way light filters through the canopy. A bird you’ve never seen before. An interesting mushroom growing on a fallen log.

You weren’t searching for any of these things, yet they found you. This is foraging, at least for the mind. This is wandering with curiosity as your compass.

The internet, despite its reputation as an algorithmic wasteland, still contains pockets of this magic. You just have to know where to look. Or rather, how to look.

For example, when I first discovered Robin Sloan’s website, I wasn’t looking for science fiction or reading recommendations. I was procrastinating on a writing project, clicking through how people make software programs. Yet, that discovery changed my life.

That’s the beauty of wandering: it rewards you for showing up without an agenda.

Algorithms, for all their sophistication, are terrible at surprise. They echo your existing interests rather than expanding them.

So, here, the goal isn’t finding what you’re looking for. The goal is to get lost.

Getting lost online used to be easy. In the early days of the web, you could click from site to site through simple HTML links, discovering new worlds with each click.

I once spent an entire evening discovering the history of underground publishing, and bookmarking dozens of links. It all started from a single mention of zines in someone’s newsletter.

That wasn’t searching. That was wandering.

But as the internet has grown, those pathways have disappeared, replacing them with a ‘getting lost’ that feels more like drowning than wandering. Now, recreating that experience requires intention.

So how do you do it? Here’s a guide.

First, let’s discuss how to start your journey. Try:

• •Start with a Wikipedia article, then click a link that catches your eye.
• •Search for an exact phrase someone mentioned, or that comes to mind in talking quotes.
• •Search for a topic + ‘blog’ to find personal sites worth perusing.
• •Many library websites have resources, community links and / or local history sections.
• •Search for ‘small web’ or ‘indieweb’ to visit communities of personal website makers.
• •Look up your town + ‘history’ or ‘newsletter’ to find local voices and stories.
• •Search for a topic + ‘forum’ for communities discussing specific interests.
• •Search for ‘webring’ + your interest to find circular collections of related sites.

Now you’ve got a starting point…how do you traverse it? Explore these methods:

• •Start with one interesting word or name from something you read.
• •Follow only one link at a time, reading before moving on.
• •Set a timer for 20-30 minutes so you don’t feel pressured to ‘finish.’
• •Look for About pages on websites you enjoy.
• •Scroll to the bottom of blog posts for author bios.
• •Check if sites have a ‘Links’ or ‘Blogroll’ section.
• •Notice when someone mentions another person’s work and follow that thread.
• •If a link makes you curious, click it.
• •If someone quotes or references something unfamiliar, or you see an unusual word or concept, look it up.
• •Follow footnotes and citations like breadcrumbs.
• •Notice what’s on website sidebars and footers.
• •Pay attention to what people mention in newsletters or podcasts.
• •Read one full article before clicking to the next.
• •Bookmark things to return to later rather than trying to consume everything now.
• •Notice what you’re drawn to without judging it.
• •Keep a simple note of one thing that surprised you.

And once you’ve got the hang of it, what now? Here are a few prompts:

• •People who make things with their hands.
• •Someone who lives in a place you’ve never been.
• •Artists who work in mediums you don’t understand.
• •Writers who think differently than you do.
• •Hobbies that seem old-fashioned or unusual.
• •Tools people used before computers.
• •Games from other countries or cultures.
• •Traditional crafts that are still practiced today.
• •Foods you’ve never heard of and how they’re made.
• •How do people in other places solve everyday problems?
• •How are the things you use every day made?
• •What are people passionate about you’ve never considered?
• •Art forms you didn’t know existed.
• •Unusual approaches to familiar problems.
• •Communities built around shared interests.
• •Different ways of thinking about time.
• •Local newsletters from small towns.
• •Personal blogs about ordinary life.
• •Collections people have built over the years.
• •How everyday objects have changed over time.
• •What life was like in your town 50 years ago.
• •How geography shapes culture and daily life.
• •Regional variations in things you take for granted.
• •How the same season looks different around the world.
• •Where art meets science.
• •People who combine unexpected skills or interests.

And while you go about it, there’s something to be said about respectful foraging. When you stumble upon someone’s corner of the internet, treat it as you would a physical space. Look around with appreciation. If something resonates with you, contact them, and share their work with attribution.

Because internet foraging isn’t about finding information. It’s about finding people. And behind every interesting website is an interesting person.

When you approach the internet as a place to discover people rather than consume content, everything changes. I’ve made friends this way. People I contact regularly, whose work I appreciate, who expand my worldview and thinking. None of these connections happened through algorithms or networking. They happened through following curiosity.

Foraging requires something that’s rare in our digital age: patience. You can’t rush serendipity.

This runs counter to everything we’re told about internet usage. We’re supposed to be efficient, focused, productive. To know what we want and to get it quickly.

But what if slowing down is what we need?

Set aside even just twenty minutes to wander without purpose. Pick a starting point (a name, a concept, a question) and see where it leads you.

Don’t worry about bookmarking everything. Sometimes the value is in the journey itself, not the destination.

Trust that what’s meant to stick with you will stick with you.

 The more you wander, the better your ‘forager’s instinct’ becomes. You’ll sense when something might lead somewhere interesting, even if you can’t articulate why.

Internet foraging isn’t about immediate gratification. It takes time.

After more than a year of intentional internet wandering, I’ve seen patterns in my foraging habits. I’m drawn to certain types of people and themes. But I didn’t start with these patterns. They emerged.

Foraging is self-discovery disguised as internet browsing.

Wandering through the internet has made me feel less overwhelmed by its vastness. When you approach the web as an infinite garden rather than an infinite library, the pressure disappears. The internet becomes less of a task to be completed and more of a relationship to be cultivated.

So here’s my invitation to you: try foraging.

Pick something: a name you heard in passing, a concept you don’t understand, a question you’ve been carrying around. Start there, but don’t end there. Let one discovery lead to another.

See what you find. Better yet, see what finds you.

The internet is vast and overwhelming, yes. But it’s also full of people making interesting things and sharing generous thoughts. The key isn’t learning to search better. It’s learning to forage well.

And that takes time, patience, and a willingness to get lost.

The internet is waiting to surprise you.

All you have to do is give it a chance.

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This piece is featured as part of the How To Fall In Love With The Internet Again digital exhibition, as part of the 2025 Emerging Writers’ Festival.

Explore the rest of the exhibition here.