Introducing TrainLife
Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2024 5:13 am
Via Irish Times: ‘I could rent an apartment, but why?’ The teenager who lives on Germany’s high-speed trains
Originally Stolley bought the annual second-class youth ticket for €2,600 but has upgraded since to the first-class ticket for €5,888. (The adult BahnCard 100 costs about €4,000 and €7,700 for second- and first-class respectively).
Mostly things go well and Lasse no longer needs earplugs or his airbed. He has rationalised his other possessions, too: after starting with a 60-litre rucksack he has halved that again.
“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,” he says.
I think this is ingenious. For the first-class Bahncard 100 fare, he essentially gets housing, transportation and food -- for a 4%-rule approved €147'200, not counting subscription cost inflation.Stolley shakes his head with a smile. The journeys cost DB little but, every day, he eats his breakfast, lunch and dinner in the rail company’s first-class station lounges. The food is simple – fruit, focaccia, soup, pizza – but it’s enough for the lanky teenager.