The story of a man who has let himself drift in order to find what is essential.
Early summer, late 1980s. Volker Winterberg has ended his dream of bohemian life in Berlin and left his community service behind. Now back home in the Ruhr region, he sits in university seminars, attends writing courses, and helps out at the theater. Yet his hunger for the essence of life and art remains unsatisfied. Every evening, he goes to the theatre, befriends the actors, and, above all, idolizes the legendary Traugott Buhre. But instead of making progress, the past catches up with him: his brief affair from Berlin announces she’s coming to visit, much to Volker's embarrassment. Guided by the motto, “You just had to be born in the right part of the world to lead a good life in the wrong part,” he decides to break free.
Accompanied by his friend Leo, he embarks on a journey across both external and internal continents. With no fixed plan, they head south, eventually ending up in the unknown expanse of Hungary, still officially socialist. After an adventurous, visa-less border crossing, they step into a completely new world.
