He sleeps on trains and showers in swimming pools: the incredible life of this lonely teenager for two years

Un train dans la gare de Cologne MAXPPP – Belloumi

Lasse Stolley, a 17-year-old German boy, left his family to live on the train since August 2022. He decides to live a minimalist life on the rails.

A teenager decided to move and settle on trains for two years now. He spent more than 6,500 hours sitting on trains traveling more than 650,000 kilometers, the equivalent of going around the world 15 times.

"It’is freedom"

"To be able to decide every day where I want to go, it’s simply wonderful, it’s freedom", he explains to Ouest France. The young man has a simple backpack as luggage. His biggest expense is around 5,888 euros which is the price of the 100% discount first class German Railways card at Deutsche Bahn.

It’s thanks to this subscription that he manages to live on board the trains. He takes his meals in the first class lounges in the stations, he washes his clothes and brushes his teeth in the toilets, he sleeps on the first class seat. To wash himself, he visits nearby swimming pools and takes showers there.

"I love the fact that I can just look out the window, see the scenery passing by quickly… And explore every corner of Germany,” he explains. He spends his time traveling but also working, he has a part-time job as an independent developer for a small start-up which allows him to telecommute and a little money.

Living on trains was not his initial plan, however. Lasse was supposed to do a programming apprenticeship but it was canceled. It was while watching a documentary on television that this idea came to him. His parents did not really agree with this adventure but ultimately agreed to support him in his project.