Granted, I have a fairly "old" rent contract from before Berlin became posh. I guess the kid looked at current rents in German cities and then figured out that a Bahncard 100 actually isn't such a bad deal if you don't also have to pay rent ;) And TBH, as a new experience I can understand him, but I wonder how long it will take until he grows weary of the lifestyle, German cities all look a bit run down and depressing when arriving by train. Props to him for giving it a try though.
To put this in context - The kid is 17. My daughter is 17 and she goes to school (11th grade) in Germany. I am an immigrant here so not sure how common this is in Germany but I assumed that kids at this age usually are in school. Kinda feels strange that someone so young is fending for himself and living in trains. Not saying it is bad, but just very uncommon. Also this is probably a "try it for a while" thing rather than the permanent / long-term lifestyle.
> I am an immigrant here so not sure how common this is in Germany but I assumed that kids at this age usually are in school.
It’s very common actually. As you probably know, Germany has a three tiered school system where kids move to after finishing elementary school at circa 10 years old.
Going to school is mandatory for 9 years here, regardless of graduation or not. You’ll leave Mittelschule after grade 9, so at 15-16. Realschule/mittlere Reife is usually finished after 10 total years in school, so at age ~16. Meanwhile gymnasium takes 12-13 years (depends on the state, our schools are weird), so you’d regularly be finished at 17-18 years old.
iirc the distribution across those three tiers is relatively even on average. That would mean that most are finished with the primary education at 17 or younger.
> Also this is probably a "try it for a while" thing rather than the permanent / long-term lifestyle.
Absolutely. I’m a bit of a train nerd myself, but even I wouldn’t consider this lifestyle for much longer. But as long as it’s fun for him, I bet he’s DB‘s most reliable service tester
It's also the perfect age to do something like that. No lifestyle inflation or real responsibility yet, so go and do something crazy while you're young and carefree.
I would recommend to any kid - if they can afford it/have the proper support system - to take off a year after finishing school and just explore. And if you need money, do try some freelancing and see if it suits you. And if you're done, you can always enter the 9-to-5 grind by entering the workforce proper.
And if you have a kid near you in your life, can afford it, and have no kids of your own, consider setting aside a little bit of money every month for this purpose. It really doesn't have to be a lot every month as it adds up (just make sure to invest it to not lose it to inflation).
I started college in the US at 16 (which is admittedly a bit early) but I'm not sure 17 is all that young. And, yes, this sort of feels like a gap year in Europe sort of lifestyle.
> German cities all look a bit run down and depressing when arriving by train
Not only by train unfortunately. Pretty much all of the post war modernist construction didn’t age well at all. Ironically, the most beautiful parts of most cities are often the ones that were reconstructed or somehow preserved.
