If you’ve ever taken a train, you know how comfy they can be. In Germany, a 17-year-old named Lasse Stolley loves trains so much that he lives on them full-time. For the past year and a half, he’s been travelling around Germany on Deutsche Bahn (DB) trains, using his unlimited annual railcard that costs about 10,000 Euros (approximately Rs 8 Lakh) a year. By night, he sleeps in the first-class cabins and during the day, he grabs a seat with a table to work remotely as a software developer. Stolley, a digital nomad, admits there’s no privacy in his moving home, but he values the freedom and flexibility. He travels about 600 miles a day, stopping wherever he feels like, showers in public places and lives a simple life with just his backpack.
Talking about his journey with Business Insider, Lasse explained, “I have a lot of freedom and can decide every day where I want to go, whether to the Alps, to a big city or to the sea. I’m completely flexible. I often go on short hikes because exercise is pretty much part of my everyday life. Berlin is simply magical because it is a diverse city. It’s easy for me to reach and there’s always something to see. But I’m also in Frankfurt and Munich every few days.”
At the age of 16, Lasse Stolley, who lived in Fockbek, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany before going on a unique adventure, convinced his parents to support his dream of living on trains legally. Before starting the journey, he cleared out his room and sold the majority of his belongings. So far he has covered 500,000 kilometres.
In the initial months, adjusting to the unique lifestyle proved difficult, with inadequate sleep on the train at night and Lasse often found himself dozing off during the day. Sometimes he missed trains and found himself stranded at an unfamiliar and eerie train station, especially during the night time. However, as time passed, these experiences helped him understand life on the train.
Due to the limited storage space, Lasse carries only four T-shirts, two pants, a neck pillow and a blanket. Alongside these, he carries his laptop and noise-cancelling headphones. The teenager manages his diet by either purchasing items from supermarkets or taking advantage of the complimentary buffets at larger train stations. Stolley opted for the Bahncard 100 first class, a one-year pass, which he acquired at the youth price of 5,888 euros (approximately Rs 5 Lakh), which provides him unlimited access to first-class trains.
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