Many people dream of traveling the world. I went on a round-the-world trip that took me to Asia, the United States and Latin America from April 2022 to December 2023, as well as to 18 European countries. In total, I traveled over 160,000 miles by plane, a nightmare for any climate activist. But I did it for a good cause, and without any feelings of “flight shame.” I visited countries that I was already more or less familiar with, but also some that I had never been to before – such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile,Nepal, and Mongolia. I also spent time in countries that I had previously only traveled to on vacation, such as Vietnam. When I’m on vacation, however, I like to lie lazily in the sun and read. I don’t really get to know the country. On my round-the-world trip, I visited many countries several times during this year and a half: on numerous trips to the United States, I took in New York,Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Las Vegas, West Palm Beach, and Memphis. I also traveled to Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Poland, Albania and Georgia several times.

I call the journey “Liberty Road Trip” or “Liberty Journey.” What does a round-the-world to 30 countries have to do with liberty? I visited these 30 countries in 2022 and 2023 to learn more about the state of economic freedom in each country. Political freedom and economic freedom are both equally important, but the focus for me was on economic freedom because I believe that economic freedom in a country is the most important prerequisite in the fight against poverty. That’s why I campaign for economic freedom around the world. I do this with my books, articles, interviews and lectures.

As a result, I have met incredible people in so many countries around the world who are committed to freedom and capitalism. They often call themselves “libertarians” or “classical liberals,” which is by no means a closed world view, but more a specific mindset. As different as the people who belong to the libertarian movement are, they have one thing in common: a high regard for freedom. So in this book you will also get to know the global libertarian movement and some of its protagonists. I describe this movement, about which most readers probably know little, from a perspective of critical sympathy: I myself am a historian and sociologist who sympathizes with some of the libertarians’ ideas, but does not want to subordinate myself to any dogma. I’ve had enough of that since I was a Maoist in my youth.

At the beginning of each year, I set myself goals for the next twelve months. I have found that goal-setting, as I describe in my book, Dare to Be Different, works. My goal, which I wrote down on New Year’s Eve 2021/22, was: “My book, In Defence of Capitalism, will be published in 20 languages.” I planned to travel to all 20 countries. But after just six months, I had already signed license agreements in 20 countries, so I raised the target to 30. That’s a lot, because until then none of my books had been published in more than a dozen languages.

I promised every publisher that I would commission a survey to find out what people in their country think of economic freedom. I also promised the publishers and libertarian think tanks that I would personally visit these 30 countries.

I knew that the entire endeavor would cost me roughly 1.5 million US dollars, because surveys conducted by renowned opinion research institutes are expensive. For the opinion polls on the image of capitalism (35 countries) and the image of the rich (13 countries) alone, I paid 700,000 US dollars. In most countries, the surveys were conducted by Ipsos MORI. These surveys were very important for this book. Th ey gave me a first impression of attitudes toward the market economy and capitalism in each country.

Both personal conversations and observations on the one hand and empirical research on the other are important. I was often able to understand the results of the polls better once I had traveled to a country and talked to the people there. Conversely, I was able to better classify my impressions from the conversations when I used the data collected in the surveys.

The fact that I was able to travel to all these countries also has to do with a type of freedom: financial freedom. Until I was 40 years old, I had no money at all. I had a decent income, but I spent it all. I was mainly interested in politics, and I often held opinions that were not politically correct. As a freedom-loving person, I always wanted to say what I thought, and that led to my gathering many people around me who appreciated this. But it also repeatedly led to problems – even existential money anguish!

When I was 39 years old, on a walk in Berlin, a friend of mine who is a politician said to me: “If we really want to get away with being who we are and saying what we think, mavericks like you and me need to earn a lot of money.” He was not – like so many professional politicians – dependent on his salary as a politician. As a brilliant lawyer, he earned more than enough to make him financially independent. And, as a result of the security this gave him, it was much easier for him to express independent opinions and swim against the prevailing political current. Those words from Peter Gauweiler, that’s the politician’s name, triggered an almost Damascene experience in me. Immediately after our conversation, I decided to become rich. That may sound strange, but that’s exactly how it happened. I would become a millionaire – and I did, in just a few years.

Today I am financially free, which means that I no longer have to work for money. Whether I work, what work I do, where I work, how I work, when I work and who I work with is nobody’s business but mine. Without this financial freedom, it would not have been possible for me to commission all those expensive surveys and finance the trips to all those countries.

Incidentally, one of the freedoms I enjoy is that I have several girlfriends and not just one. I’ve been with them for many years and of course they all know about each other. Some of them have accompanied me on my travels. So please don’t be surprised if you find the names of several girlfriends mentioned throughout this book. So, why did I want to travel to so many countries? Initially out of curiosity and because I had the idea of writing a book on the subject. But there was more, namely a mission. After I sold my company in 2016 and finished my second doctorate, I set myself a new, really big goal: I wanted to conquer the world.

I only played two games with passion as a teenager: Monopoly (in which you collect real estate, as you know) and Risk. The latter is about conquering the world, occupying one country after another. And it is precisely this game that I am continuing in real life today: by “conquering the world.” Of course, I don’t mean that I want to become another Alexander the Great. My goals are much more modest – and yet very ambitious. As a thinker and an author, I want to spread my messages worldwide and win people over to the ideals of freedom and capitalism.

My geographical focus changed at the age of 60. Everyone has a geographical sphere for their thoughts and actions. When I was young, I had a girlfriend whose life revolved around the village of Messel, Germany, with its 3,000 inhabitants, where we lived at the time. She sometimes traveled, but the frame of reference for her thoughts and actions always remained Messel. Some of my acquaintances in the real estate industry have the city of Berlin as their frame of reference: they are primarily interested in what is happening in this city and follow the regional media closely. My primary frame of reference in the years leading up to 2017 was always Germany. My company was active throughout Germany and I was constantly on the road in Germany – Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Düsseldorf.

For most people, their geographical focus is on their own country. This is understandable, but also somewhat narrow-minded. I always notice this when I offer articles to media in Germany. Anything about Germany is readily accepted. An article about Argentina? “Too far away for our readers.” I don’t even need to ask about Albania or Mongolia.

My focus today is the whole world. I travel around the globe because I am curious about other people and other countries. And because I want to spread my messages and help popularize the idea of freedom all around the world. My travels are different from those of most people: I’m not particularly interested I “sights” that attract camera-wielding tourists. If I want to, I can look them up on the internet.

No, I am interested in people. I learn more about a country when I meet people who tell me something about it: economists and politicians, for example, or people who campaign for freedom in their countries. I was interviewed by journalists in all of the countries I visited, but I always took the opportunity to switch roles and ask the journalists about the politics and economy in their country before or aft er each interview. I also like to meet “normal” people, young people who barely have any money, but also entrepreneurs who have become multi-billionaires. I have met hundreds of interesting people and learned a lot in the process. You can read about what I have learned in this book.

I was unable to go to some countries that I would have liked to visit. Many of my books have also been published in Russia, where I have a number of friends. I have many ties with the country, and I was even a member of the Russian Orthodox Church for several decades until I left because the church strongly supported Putin’s war. I didn’t want to travel to Russia during the war, because saying nothing about the war there would have been a mistake, and if I had said something about the war, it would have been too dangerous for me. But I met many Ukrainians and Russians, especially in Poland and Georgia. I will also report on these meetings.

I visited many cities in China in 2018 and 2019 and had already booked a trip for October 2023. At short notice, however, my Chinese publisher informed me that, contrary to expectations, officials had not yet granted permission for me to give a series of lectures on my book, The Rich in Public Opinion. Too bad, as I had been looking forward to the trip to China. I also wanted to travel to Nigeria, where my book, In Defence of Capitalism, had been published. But I didn’t want to be vaccinated against yellow fever, so I couldn’t get a visa for Nigeria and had to give my talk online. I hope to be able to visit Russia, Ukraine, China and other countries in the next few years.

Before I traveled to a country, I researched its history, because I am a historian and therefore know that the key to understanding a country lies in its history. My travels would not have been as informative without the surveys I conducted in the countries before I started traveling and without studying the history of these countries. This book is not just a travel book, it is also a history book – as you might expect from a historian. Perhaps you will become curious to learn more about these countries – and read more books about them or travel there yourself.

Rainer Zitelmann
January 2025