Featured Image Credit: Lasse Stolley
Topics: Travel, Money, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck
A 17-year-old has opened up about why he decided to live onboard trains as his permanent accommodation.
While many of us think of trains and sob a silent tear at the very thought of being crammed next to a stranger who's just cracked open a McDonald's or the other very real possibility of being left stranded with severe delays, one teenager has committed to being on a train permanently since August 2022.
Lasse Stolley, from Germany, decided to up sticks and move onboard the country's national trains nearly two years ago.
Given he 'had no experience of travel' he tells the Irish Times, it's fair his parents expressed some concern.
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However, off the teenager went, armed with just a rucksack, to live onboard trains while also carrying out his job of programming smartphones.
Well, Stolley is able to travel on so many trains as a result of joining a discount subscription programme called the BahnCard 100 - offered by Germany's national railway company Deutsche Bahn.
When he first started living onboard trains, Stolley purchased the annual second-class youth ticket which cost $2,800.
The ticket offers a '25 percent discount on the flexible fare and saver fares for long-distance travel' as per Deutsche Bahn's website.
Stolley has since gone on to upgrade his ticket, buying a first-class ticket for $6,300 which offers more 'spacious, comfortable seats,' better 'peace and quiet,' alongside seat reservations for flexible fares, access to DB Lounges, free wifi and sometimes free food and drinks if on ICE trains.
Stolley notes there's a law in Germany which means Deutsche Bahn has 'a conveyance obligation which doesn't limit how often [he] can travel' which has meant he's been able to live aboard the country's trains for nearly two years now.
The teenager reflects he 'could rent an apartment' but questions 'why' he would do that when he has 'so many friends everywhere' to go and visit and isn't 'lonely'.
Stolley resolved: "Minimalism was always my thing, and having as few things as possible means I don’t have to think about things and have more time for the beautiful things in life.
"[...] I’ve travelled 600,000km since I began in August 2022, that’s 15 times around the Earth. I enjoy the freedom of not being bound to one place."
Unlucky Francis Bourgeois, there's a new train fanatic in town.
UNILAD has contacted Deutsche Bahn for comment.