I’m 17 and since August 2022 I have been living on trains. I grew up in a village in the north of Germany. I enjoyed travelling to Scandinavia with my parents and going on nature tours, and was also interested in computer programming. I taught myself how to program during the pandemic and decided that was what I wanted to do for my job.
After graduating from secondary school in summer 2022, I was set to start an apprenticeship as a software developer. Unfortunately, it was cancelled a few weeks before it was due to begin. I needed a new plan at short notice.
I had seen a TV report a few weeks earlier about someone who lived on a train. I could not get the thought out of my head. I loved the idea of having the freedom to travel anywhere in Germany every day. A few days later, I bought my first BahnCard 100, which offers unlimited travel on Germany’s national train network – the junior pass cost €2,664 (£2,290) back then. On 8 August, I set off and boarded the first train.
My family were very sceptical at that point. They were worried I wouldn’t be able to get enough sleep at night, that I would be alone and that it could be dangerous. They were still sceptical for the first few months, when hardly anything worked out. I would get tired and stressed from planning it all, and struggle to sleep, so I often returned home to my parents. But now I have it figured out, they’re really supportive. I have so many new experiences; life is extremely varied and every day is different.
I have the freedom to decide where I go every day, and can visit my friends who live all over Germany. They also travel on the trains a lot – while they don’t live on them like me, we often arrange to travel together or to meet up. I actually have much more contact with friends than ever before, and also have interesting conversations with other travellers on the train. I feel anything but lonely.
I’ve done this for more than a year now. When my first BahnCard was going to expire, I upgraded my pass to first class, which costs €5,888 for someone under 27 like me. This also lets me eat all the food I want in the Deutsche Bahn guest lounges at train stations – stuff like croissants, muesli, wraps, focaccia, soup or cake.
My typical day involves arriving into a city between 6am and 8am on an overnight InterCity Express train. I’ll go to the railway company’s guest lounge and eat breakfast. I’ll then have a quick wash in the bathroom, or go to the local swimming pool to shower.
Afterwards, I look at the day’s train departures and choose a destination. Even though I live on trains, I spend a lot of time exploring the outdoors. During the day, I might go hiking in the mountains, visit a city or go to the beach on the Baltic Sea. It depends on the weather. I love hiking in the Alps, especially in summer, and exploring new cities. I particularly like being in Berlin. The city is full of variety and there’s always something going on.
At some point, I will pick my night train and go to the station. Then I’ll eat dinner in the Deutsche Bahn lounge and wait for the train which swings me across Germany while I sleep.
I’m a software developer at an IT startup and work about 10 hours a week. The great thing about my job is that I can choose my own working hours. It’s not a problem if I don’t work for a day or two. I use my time travelling on the train to work, so the job fits quite well with my lifestyle.
Living on the train means I have to do without some things that I used to take for granted. I don’t have privacy. I have also had to reduce my possessions so that everything I own fits into a 30-litre backpack. But the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
All in all, taking into account general living expenses, my lifestyle on trains costs less than €10,000 a year. That sounds like a lot at first, but it’s very cheap compared with the costs of renting an apartment.
The original plan was to do this for only a year, but I have enjoyed it so much, I’ve decided to keep doing it. At the moment, there’s no end in sight.
• As told to Daniel Dylan Wray
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