Please imagine you're looking for something or somebody; you go around everywhere and are asking everyone in sorrounding area to find out whther they know where it/he/she... is! After awhile (it can be a long time, but not necessarily), you "usually" bump into what/who you where looking for just in a place you even didn't imagine you could find them which was too close to you, while you've already searched many other places far away!
As the saying goes in such a situation, the person as though finds themsleves in midstream looking for water; in other words, what they were looking for had been just beside them or too close to them while they had been in many other places looking for the lost person or thing!
In my language, in such a moment and when the person finds what they have been looking for, they might say (sarcastically or even out of surprise):
- The water was in the pitcher and I was looking for it all around the world! [which literally seems to be clear by itself]
The only English equivalent I found for it is:
- I was looking for water in the sea!
What I need is to discover if it works in today English or there os a current alternative for that.
I would appreciate it if you help me find the closest proverb or expression in common use about this meaning.