Passenger Trains > How one German millennial chose to live on trains

How one German millennial chose to live on trains rather than pay rent
WaPo
by Rick Noack
August 22

> COLOGNE, Germany — When others get off the train to finally go home,
> Leonie Müller stays behind. That's because she already is home: The
> train is her apartment, and she says she likes it that way.
>
> The German college student gave up her apartment in spring. "It all
> started with a dispute I had with my landlord," Müller told The
> Washington Post via e-mail. "I instantly decided I didn't want to
> live there anymore — and then I realized: Actually, I didn't want to
> live anywhere anymore." Müller washing her hair on trains. (Credit:
> Leonie Müller) Müller washes her hair on trains. (Credit: Leonie
> Müller)
>
> Instead, she bought a subscription that allows her to board every
> train in the country free. Now, Müller washes her hair in the train
> bathroom and writes her college papers while traveling at a speed of
> up to 190 mph. She says that she enjoys the liberty she has
> experienced since she gave up her apartment. "I really feel at home
> on trains and can visit so many more friends and cities. It's like
> being on vacation all the time," Müller said.
>
> The 23-year-old's unusual housing choice has gained her media
> attention in Germany and appeared on national news sites such as
> Spiegel Online. "I read, I write, I look out of the window and I meet
> nice people all the time. There's always something to do on trains,"
> Müller told German TV station SWR in an interview. Since risking the
> move, Müller's life fits into a small backpack in which she carries
> clothes, her tablet computer, college documents and a sanitary bag.
>
> So far, her experience contradicts studies that have recently claimed
> that "long commutes are killing you." And financially, she  benefits
> from living on a train: The flat-rate ticket costs her about $380,
> whereas she had to pay about $450 for her previous apartment...

How one German millennial chose to live on trains rather than pay rent

We have homeless living on the San Diego Trolleys - they have been doing it for years.

UG!

iliketrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We have homeless living on the San Diego Trolleys
> - they have been doing it for years.
>
> UG!

if i was homeless San Diego would be my placw of choice to survive ... last time i was there, the homeless i saw lived better than some of the people living in the inner city ghettos and barrios

Sounds like what I did with a Eurailpass back in '79.

I would ask here what food costs or is it free on the German trains?

American millenials just avoid the financial hassles and move in with ol' Mom and Pop...

One of my friends lived between Penn Station and the F train for a number of months after a sub-lease collapsed when the super-leasor was evicted. He put all his things in storage, got a YMCA membership for showers and slept in the afformentioned locations (as well as his office). His job was actually with the MTA so I guess the F Train counted as "sleeping at work" as well.

Other articles in Germany reveal more details. She does not really live on trains: She spends the nights at either her boy-friends, her mother, grandmother and other friends (including taking showers there ...). What she does is to spend the time writing her thesis on the trains while commuting to their nightly accomodation. According to the article in the magazine "Stern", she spends about 25 hours per week on the train, as she is studying full time at the university of Tübingen. So there is also no need to purchase the meals on the train.

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