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I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

metro.co.uk

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Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#81

Post by gaiagraphia »

kkfx wrote: post #54

So he have nothing, no home, no more belongings that a suitcase and a laptop, the ideal SLAVE of the modern time, someone who exists until he can produce for someone else, who effectively own him, then can only die since he have no more option to live. And the article seems to be a spot for this kind of existence "hey, it's cheap"... I'm actually curious how many really have stopped a minute to imaging what does it m…

Nothing wrong with young people spending a bit of time to 'hack the system', 'get out there', 'do new things', etc.

As long as this is strictly a personal project, with a goal, and an exit strategy, it's absolutely fine.

He'll probably grow up to be quite a successful person, and no doubt will have learnt a fair bit this year, as well as being humbled. Being homeless is grim, but it's nice to have perspective sometimes and a heightened sense of empathy, and not constantly live life on ezpz mode.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#82

Post by igetspam »

rrr_oh_man wrote: post #39
op00to wrote: post #16

This is awesome. I love trains, the German trains more so. Wish I could go back in time and do this!

Why not now?

This is something you could do at 17 that you can't at 30+, with a partner and a kid. If full remote had been an option for me at 17, I'd have likely ended up a lifetime nomad. This is that.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#83

Post by moooo99 »

01acheru wrote: post #61
Shrezzing wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The net after-tax salary in France is €2,450, and in Germany it's €2,750, compared to the €850/mo this kid spends. I can't see how you could survive long-term on around 1/3 of a nation's average salary, even in the most rural of villages with hardly any amenities, rent alone is going to take up the majority of your budget. You could probably get by reasonably well in Greece, and could live very well in the Balkans.

With 850€/month you can pay rent (a small apartment for one person) and bills in more or less half of Germany, same for France. The average net after tax have no meaning in this context.

True, it doesn’t. But the average rent in Germany is 780€/mo without heating, electricity or internet. So realistically people spend on average a 1000€/mo on living.

Realistically this living on a train thing isn’t a sustainable lifestyle, but it certainly is a fun adventure

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#84

Post by JonChesterfield »

Sounds alright really. Less dystopian than living in Google's car park. Doesn't work with dog or family and I'm not sure about being stuck near train stations at destinations, folding bicycle would improve things. Not remotely surprised that he's a programmer.

This is essentially living subsidised by the train company who didn't expect someone to take an unlimited train ticket quite that literally. One guy doing this could be interpreted as marketing. A hundred would focus the operator's mind on words like "fair use". Drawing attention to himself like this may mark the end of this experience.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#85

Post by moooo99 »

bradyat wrote: post #30
NeoTar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I can see it just says he sleeps on the 'night trains' which are any trains that operate overnight. If you restricted yourself to sleepers, there is quite a broad network across Germany, but still not comprehensive ( https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jcr:5e469db8-ee74-46b0-a27... )

From his blog: "I spent many nights trying to figure out the best way to sleep in first class. In the end, sleeping on an air mattress under the seats proved to be a good idea." https://leben-im-zug.de/meiner-erster-monat-mit-der-bahncard... So I guess he really is just sleeping in the regular compartment rather than a sleeper berth.

Yes. DB doesn’t operate any sleeper cars. All sleepers operating in Germany are by international corporations (ÖBB, etc). But they aren’t covered by a DB BahnCard 100.

The trains he mentions are just regular ICEs that operate for some overnight trips.

I can imagine how this can be reasonably comfortable in an older ICE1 in first class, but i wouldn’t want to sleep on ICE4 seats for extended periods of time

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#87

Post by rob74 »

dagw wrote: post #51
rob74 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably have to add to that the cost of eating only at restaurants (either on board or at or around train stations) > 90% of the time. And I wonder how he gets his clothes washed (and dried). Laundromat? Stop by his parents' place? Maybe I should read the blog...

the cost of eating only at restaurants The article says he often eats (for free) at the 1st class lounges at the train stations

That sounds a bit better than it really is: according to https://www.bahn.de/service/zug/db-lounge#zutritt (apparently only available in German), only 5 DB lounges (Berlin, München, Köln, Hamburg and Frankfurt) have a "premium area" where you can get a "small snack" - all others only offer non-alcoholic hot and cold beverages.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#88

Post by mytailorisrich »

pera wrote: post #69
Daviey wrote: post #5

Compared to the UK where a standard-class rail season ticket for me to get to London (including underground), at £8,272 p/y.. but for that, I also have the luxury of either standing in an overcrowded carriage, or if I am super lucky I get to sit in a seat that smells of urine.

I never understood why trains are so expensive in England: when I lived in Bristol I liked to spend time in Bath, it's just a ~10 minutes ride but it costed 10 pounds each way if I remember correctly... but at least you could bring your bike for free :p

Because the government decided to stop subsidising the railways.

Everywhere you see very cheap train fares it's because they are subsidised.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#89

Post by justincormack »

jack_riminton wrote: post #64
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #52

If I was his age a $2.5K on a years interrail ticket for unlimited travel across Europe (admittedly 2nd class and there may seat reservation charges) would be very tempting https://www.eurail.com/en

When I was interrailing I'd try and do some across Europe night trains as it meant I saved on hostel costs and I'd wake up somewhere new. The choices are somewhat limited though

Getting better again slowly after a bad period.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#90

Post by soco »

Ekaros wrote: post #24
alt227 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

I would argue that you probably can, but not anywhere one would actually want to live in or where there is any sort of opportunities. For Finland that level means living in even poorer than average conditions in essentially dead areas.

Also not saying it's a great idea, but a remote worker could live there just fine. Technically, I mean. But why staying in a dead area if you can travel for the same money? So the dead area will probably stay dead... (and let's not get into that)
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