West German writer Philip Winter has missed his publisher's deadline for writing an article about the United States. In fact, he hasn't written anything substantial, seemingly hating the country and in the middle of a life crisis – he has only been taking lots of Polaroid pictures of the emptiness (in his mind). Having lost the job and attempting to book a flight from New York City to Munich, he meets a German woman, Lisa van Dam, and her young daughter, Alice, who are also trying to return home amidst a strike by German air traffic controllers. After Lisa leaves Alice temporarily in Philip's care, she disappears to deal with the relationship she has recently terminated. Philip and Alice take their flights to Amsterdam on the expectation that Lisa will catch up with them there. As Alice has lived there with her parents and speaks Dutch, she suggests showing him the city while they wait for Lisa's flight. Tension runs high between them as he cuts short the sightseeing trip and his money is running out. The next day, back at the airport, they find out that Lisa was not on the flight.