Lise Carlaw’s 7kg carry-on move a success

Radio personality Lise Carlaw’s wild endeavour to take just a 7kg bag on a five-week Europe trip has gone viral – but she’s succeeded.

Radio personality Lise Carlaw successfully got her carry-on bag to come it as 7kg – as she embarks on a five-week Europe trip with no checked-in luggage.

When radio personality Lise Carlaw told her online followers she was going to embark on a five-week Europe trip with nothing but a 7kg carry-on, the general reaction was “no way” and “how”.

But the mother-of-two has succeeded in her wild endeavour — and she’s got the pictures to prove it.

When checking into Brisbane airport on Thursday, with her husband Dane and two boys, Remy, 13 and Max 9, she took a snap of each of their backpacks getting weighed a the carousel.

Her bag came in at exactly 7kg, while her husband Dane’s was 6.9kg, Remy’s 6.3kg and youngest son Max’s had the lightest bag at just 4.3kg.

Aussie radio personality and podcaster Lise Carlaw with her family after their carry-on bags successfully came in at 7kg and under for a five-week Europe trip.

“We did it!” Lise said in a post of the family-of-four standing at the front of departures gate.

Over the past few weeks the former radio show host of Those Two Girls has captivated her Instagram followers by taking them on a journey of how she planned to execute the wild undertaking.

“I’m not taking a toiletry bag, but then I realised, what happens with the toothbrushes? They can’t go willy nilly,” she said in a Instagram Story a few days before her trip.

“So I went to Kmart and I bought four of these [toothbrush cases]. I think they’re going to be great.

“[The boys] can put it in their man satchels.”

Lise and her family have no checked-in luggage. They are travelling Europe with just a 7kg backpack each.

To help with creased clothing, Lise said she learned of a great hack involving a tiny bottle filled with tap water and some lavender oil that’s also going into her carry-on. “The other thing I bought that came into my DMs that I love the idea of but yet to see if it’s practical, is carabiner clips,” she said.

“The suggestion was to clip these on to our backpacks and if the boys have extra stuff to hook on, like a hat, perhaps [they can].”

Her bag came in at exactly 7kg.

Her husband Dane’s bag was 6.9kg.

The co-host of the popular podcast Forty, went on ABC radio Brisbane this week where she answered the ultimate question of, “why” — why she decided to get her entire family to take just their carry-on for over a month in Europe.

“For us it was an absolute no-brainer,” she told Afternoons host Katherine Feeney on Tuesday. “We’re travelling with our two boys; Remy is 13-and-a-half and Max is nine-and-a-half – and I don’t want to be in an airport carousel after a 23-hour flight with tired and hungry children.”

Her eldest son Remy’s was 6.3kg.

And her youngest boy Max had the lightest at just 4.3kg.

Lise said she also doesn’t want to risk losing luggage and having their plans affected.

“For us as a family the freedom excites us, of each of us putting on a backpack and dominating metro stairs, dominating cobblestones.”

Lise and her family are going to hot spots within France and Italy, which are known for their cobblestone footpaths.

“My husband and I actually lived in the south of France for three years and we know what it’s like – have you ever pulled a suitcase on a cobblestone path?”

Lise said the reason was simple – she didn’t want to wait around for checked luggage, risk not getting suitcases and having to lug them around cobblestone footpaths in Europe. Picture: Instagram/lisecarlaw

Despite having checked-in luggage included in the overall airfare fee, this still didn’t phase Lise.

“I just don’t want to lug 20kg just because I paid an airfare that’s allowed me too. I don’t think that’s a good enough reason,” she said.

Lise said what she likes most about “this ridiculous challenge that I have forced upon my family” is the luxury of not making decisions.

“I understand for some people this challenge is their idea of hell. [But] I’m at this point in life where I’ve realised I want to make all decisions now, and when I get there, that luxury of not making decisions and being free of the mind clutter; that is really appealing to me.”

And it appears she’s not the only one to embark on such an act.

A poll conducted by news.com.au revealed 57 per cent of readers (out of 1160 votes) are willing to go on a long Europe trip with just a 7kg bag.