An economic refugee sets out on a journey. The escape from home, the long path with smuggling gangs, life-threatening boat passages, and the distrust in the host country - this is what a German experienced in the 18th century while fleeing to America. The risk is high - just the long journey to the coast consumes most of the money saved for the escape. New fees and bribes for smugglers keep piling up, and some travelers are completely destitute by the time they finally reach the port. There, masses of would-be emigrants from many regions of Germany are camped in overpriced and makeshift camps. The conditions at the port are dreadful: everyone wants to board the ships, and children drown in the attempt to get onto one. The sea passage is feared, and rightly so - all the ships are overcrowded and many are in terrible condition. Some boats sink.