As of: March 6, 2024, 7:11 p.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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A teenager drives a thousand kilometers across Germany every day where he lives.
He lives and works in the ICE.
This also brings problems.
Munich – Rental costs have been skyrocketing for years, and many Germans can hardly afford them, especially in cities.
It makes sense that young people in particular without the necessary change should consider alternative housing strategies.
One of them has gained national attention thanks to Lasse Stolley, because his solution is as creative as it is unusual: he lives in the ICE.
Teenager Lasse Stolley lives on the train: “I have extremely great freedom”
The 17-year-old software developer has been traveling the whole country in first class since 2022 using his Bahncard 100 without having a permanent address.
He sleeps on night trains, showers in public swimming pools and eats for free in the DB lounge.
He travels around 1,000 kilometers a day on German rails, reports
Business Insider
.
The solution seems to work well for Stolley: “I have a lot of freedom and can decide where I want to go every day.” His lifestyle, which he describes as a digital nomad style, allows him to visit the best places in Germany at any time, be it the sea, the Alps or a big city.
Of course he is also affected by the many rail strikes.
Lasse Stolley lives on the ICE trains in Germany.
© Lasse Stolley Instagram
17-year-old becomes a digital nomad, but first had to convince his parents
Before his nomadism, he had completed secondary school.
Nothing came of his plan to train as an IT specialist because the training was canceled.
A video on YouTube then inspired him to give up his previous life.
He writes about his constant travels in a blog.
However, Stolley's parents were not very enthusiastic about his plan.
He told the portal that he had to do a lot of convincing.
But they now support him financially and pay for his health insurance, for example.
Stolley earns money as a programmer in a Cologne startup.
Lasse Stolley lives a minimalist lifestyle - noise-cancelling headphones are essential
At first it took a period of getting used to before Stolley was able to organize life on the rails well for himself.
He has almost nothing, minimalism is his constant companion.
“The most important thing is my laptop and my noise-cancelling headphones, which give me at least a little privacy on the train.” In his 36-liter backpack, he only has four T-shirts, two pairs of pants, a neck pillow and a travel blanket .
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And how much does the young man save by living this way?
It's definitely cheaper than an apartment.
A large part of his costs can be attributed to his equipment; the Bahncard cost him the youth price of 5,888 euros.
In total, he should spend around 10,000 euros per year on his lifestyle.
17-year-old lives on the train – “There’s a lot of theft on night trains”
Stolley would like to work with the railway as an external consultant in order to finance his trips.
After all, hardly anyone knows better than him what goes wrong as a customer on ICEs.
“My wish would be to give feedback to the transport companies, for example Deutsche Bahn or the train manufacturers, and to be compensated for it.”
He has an example ready: He has suggestions for improving night trains, especially when they travel through metropolitan areas such as the Ruhr area.
On the night trains you have to “be very careful with your luggage, a lot is stolen from them.” There is a lack of security staff, unlike between Frankfurt and Hamburg.
An ICE train with 250 passengers on board recently had to be evacuated due to a gas leak.
(cgsc)