About.
What is Without Baggage?
Without Baggage is an online travel magazine, written by me, Hank Leukart.
The world is full of different kinds of travel writing. There's travel writing covering boring logistics ("The [hotel's] mostly white rooms are spacious and cheerful,") full of superlatives ("[Bali is] one of the most beautiful, peaceful, and intoxicating places on earth,") and infused with clichés ("Getting there is half the fun.") Some reads like a diary, chronicling daily minutiae. Some reads like an exaggerated movie plot.
Travel writing can be better. In Without Baggage, I write short, personal essays about the bizarre adventures and interesting people I encounter as I travel around the world. Sometimes the essays are funny, sometimes they're sad, and sometimes I get distracted and write too much about eating blueberries and Belgian waffles. But, all of the stories are true.
You'll find that I, too, sometimes mistakenly write stuff that's boring, superlative-packed, or cliche-ridden. But it's always unintentional, and you're welcome to e-mail me and make fun of me when I do.
What does Without Baggage mean?
When I travel, I try to carry as little possible and avoid having a set itinerary. The less weighing you down, the more you can do.
Hank reads a book while sailing down the Congo River in central Africa.
Who is Hank Leukart?
Hank Leukart, the personality behind Without Baggage, is a Los Angeles-based television producer and writer. An adventure-travel enthusiast, Hank has traveled to over 135 cities in over 30 countries while writing Without Baggage. His recent trips have included backpacking in post-revolution Egypt, boating down the Congo River, trekking to Nepal's Everest Base Camp, cycling through Vietnam, snowshoeing the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim, packrafting Alaska's Denali, and hiking in Chilean Patagonia.
Hank has worked as a producer on a variety of adventure-travel television shows for ABC, CBS, Discovery Channel, TLC, and History Channel. Most recently, he raced across Morocco with a camera working as a producer for ABC's Expedition Impossible.
It's a non sequitur, but, yes, he is the same Hank who wrote and published The Doom Hacker's Guide (Henry Holt/MIS:Press), a 300-page book about the seminal computer game, Doom. Hank and the book were featured in many major publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, and People Magazine. Hank earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, where he wrote over 130 pieces for The Dartmouth newspaper, and authors Dick Lehr and Mitchell Zuckoff highlighted him in the book Judgment Ridge for his journalism work at The Dartmouth.
How can i contact Hank?
You can write to Hank Leukart at nojunkhank@nojunkleukart.org.
