'Living' on a train.....

[crispy1978]

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-08-23/student-opts-to-live-on-train-rather-than-pay-rent/

Student opts to live on train rather than pay rent

High rents and a dispute with her landlord put one female student off renting so much that she decided to become 'voluntarily homeless' and live on public transport.

Leonie Müller, 23, a student at Tübingen University, Germany, has been living on trains since moving out of her flat in Stuttgart on May 1 and says she now has "no permanent accommodation" but does own a BahnCard 100 which means she can board every train in the country for free.

Müller, who has been writing about her unique living arrangements on her 'Wherever you go, there you are' blog, says since giving up her flat she now lives on trains - washing her hair in the onboard bathrooms and writing her essays while traveling at speeds of up to 190 mph.

She wrote on her blog: "The plan is simple: A year, a BahnCard 100, no permanent accommodation and me."

Describing herself as a 'digital nomad' Müller said living on trains, some of which have overnight sleeper facilities, is now costing her less than life in her previous home.

She said: "The BahnCard cost me less than my own apartment or a dorm room, the semester ticket and semi regular visits to family, friend and friends together. Much less."

According to the Facebook link she uses it to travel from sofa to sofa on a semi-regular basis, stopping with family and friends - but I dare say she does sleep on the trains and travels quite a bit.

Would certainly be an interesting experience. Going to look at her blog! http://www.tyatravel.com/de/faq-wie-du-wohnst-jetzt-im-zug/ - need to get the translator out though as my German is non-existent!!

 

[Merseysider]

I think that's brilliant! Slightly crazy, and I wouldn't do it myself, as I'd probably be sick of trains at the end of it all. I'd do it for a week or so though

Presumably she has mail sent to her parent, boyfriend or friend's address. Might make getting work a little more difficult. But I'm surprised a comparison hasn't been made by ITV between the price of the Bahncard 100 and our 'rip off' railways. At €79 per week, for unlimited travel in Germany, the Bahncard 100 is exceptionally good value.

 

[Techniquest]

That's quite a thing, to be able to do that! I shall also be investigating her blog.

Bargain to do all that travel for such low money. I'd love to give it a go..

 

[causton]

A good idea! If trains had better WiFi and/or phone signal I would consider it... at PRIV rate an All Line Rover's not that much more, sounds like a good challenge eh?

...

Maybe not...

 

[PermitToTravel]

It didn't make me think of any forum members at all... no names...

 

[507021]

I would give it a go as well but I don't think I'd be able to for much longer than a few weeks. I couldn't have a proper wash or a shave in a train toilet and like Jake I'd definitely get fed up of trains at the end of it. Good on her for trying it though

I'll be reading her blog too

 

[crispy1978]

I'm sure you'd only be able to do it for so long before you were driven insane.

Even with sofa stops, you'd have to be special caliber to do more than a couple of months.

Will read the blog with interest. The €79/week is a heck of a lot cheaper than the ALR in the UK! Mind you with Rovers, you'd bring the cost down significantly if you could stick to one area!

 

[Groningen]

You know about that person from Barcelona that works in London and flies often between those 2 cities.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...om-barcelona-a-london-worker-who-makes-it-pay

 

[crispy1978]

You know about that person from Barcelona that works in London and flies often between those 2 cities.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...om-barcelona-a-london-worker-who-makes-it-pay

I hadn't heard about that one - but that sounds more doable.

Unless I'm missing something I don't see a massive saving between Barcelona and London, sounds more of a quality of life thing - but that's not a bad thing!

 

[gordonthemoron]

I presume she has a Bahncard100

 

[eastwestdivide]

Quick translation from the start of the blog:

Bist du verrückt?

Theoretisch gesehen, ja. Praktisch gesehen, auch.

Are you mad?
Theoretically speaking, yes. Practically speaking, yes too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You know about that person from Barcelona that works in London and flies often between those 2 cities.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...om-barcelona-a-london-worker-who-makes-it-pay

Weekly commuting with some home working, which is what he is actually doing once you look past the publicity, is extremely common, particularly in more niche areas of IT. I've done it.

 

[gazthomas]

Inspired

 

[crispy1978]

The blog (https://bestburgerinnorthwestlondon...r-to-rent-in-barcelona-and-commute-to-london/) actually explains it a lot better which I didn't see initially.

I can now see how it works - good on him!

 

[Clip]

Id go mental if I had to do stuff like that - no matter how much money it was saving me. As much as I like train trips its a whole new ball game if youre practically living on one.

 

[Merseysider]

I hadn't heard about that one - but that sounds more doable.

Unless I'm missing something I don't see a massive saving between Barcelona and London, sounds more of a quality of life thing - but that's not a bad thing!

Plus, it wouldn't be £4.50 for a pint in Barcalona. Whilst the cost of housing and travel might remain the same, there'd be a marked drop in the overall cost of living, especially as the pound has been strong against the euro for some time now.

 

[crispy1978]

The blog is actually a pretty good read!

Some of the translation is a bit 'Broken English' but you get the general idea!

 

[Bavarian]

Being a hopeless train nerd myself I find this very inspiring, of course. It's basically all over the German media right now.

But just some observations:
- I wouldn't call it exactly "living on the train". What this girl does is rather long distance commuting between three or four cities in Germany, where she then sleeps at friends' or relatives' places. That's also where she keeps most of her belongings, does her laundry and so on. "Living" on a train should include sleeping there as well. We still have a few domestic sleeper services (which unfortunately will soon be reduced further, Berlin-Munich is going to be suspended). There are also regular ICE's running overnight, which are free to use with a Bahncard 100 (while sleepers require supplements).
- Reading her blog, one finds that she actually doesn't travel THAT much. In many weeks it's much less than what I sometimes have to do on extensive business trips throughout the country. It could be an interesting calculation in the end if her Bahncard 100 did even amortise itself (that threshold would be 7926 Euros for rail expenses in her case).
- One might also observe that she never mentions a job or anything like that. She seems to be in the very comfortable position that someone else (and who might that be?) is paying for her Bahncard 100, fancy BOSE noise cancelling headphones and general living expenses.

I can't help but have mixed feelings about all this.

One of your newspapers (Daily Mail) had a piece on this too. Interestingly, most of the online comments dwell on the fact how cheap a season ticket for the entire German rail network is...

 

[D365]

Being a hopeless train nerd myself I find this very inspiring, of course. It's basically all over the German media right now.

Yes indeed, I saw it on the news when the story first broke.

One of your newspapers (Daily Mail) had a piece on this too. Interestingly, most of the online comments dwell on the fact how cheap a season ticket for the entire German rail network is...

Of course the notorious Daily Mail has covered it... I'm not quite sure what to compare it to, other than Bild, but that's more akin to The Sun.

 

[Howardh]

Not quite all day and all night, but it wouldn't surprise me if, in winter, many a senior citizen booked a local all-day bus/rail ticket for around £6.60 and stayed on public transport until bedtime...think of the saving on electricity and gas bills at home!

*Notes* my power bills average £5/day (£2.50 in high summer, £7.50 in winter), so in effect a full day out on local transport in january saves £1/day. Ace!!

 

[backontrack]

Easy enough for her - no Pacers in Germany!

In all seriousness, it must be a very hard thing to do.

 

[Aictos]

I presume she has a Bahncard100

According to the article she does