Hi, I’m Zefan — and this is VERY LOST.

VERY LOST is a space for people who feel different in different places — and are obsessed with why.

VERY LOST is not not a travel blog. I won’t convince you to visit Lisbon or Bali. I’m interested in how place shows us our own bravery, creates unexpected kindness in strangers, unlocks different versions of ourselves, or can feel like home in a moment.

I’m Zefan. After a Big Tech layoff, I spent two years living and traveling through 25 countries. As I tried to make sense of how these experiences were reshaping my identity, VERY LOST was born.

This space is where you’ll find:

• Stories centered on my lived experiences across 50 countries

• Essays rooted both in my Eritrean heritage and global wandering

• Reflections on how space and geography shape the people that we become

Thanks for getting lost with me. I’m glad you’re here, and excited about where we’ll go next.

—Zefan

I initially started this newsletter as a way to share my most awkward travel thoughts with friends and family, and since then the Very Lost community has grown. Some of my favorite comments (from the early days) still are: