After a stint travelling around the Middle East in early 2005, Vanessa Able settled in Istanbul and began to work as a correspondent for the Hewler Globe, northern Iraq’s first English-language weekly newspaper. During this time she also started contributing to Time Out Istanbul magazine, and in December 2005 became the Editor-in-Chief of its English edition.

In addition to editing the monthly publication, Vanessa started writing about Istanbul for the Observer and Guardian newspapers, as well as other magazines such as Gulf Life, Taste Anatolia, before going on to contribute to Conde Nast’s concierge.com travel website, in Turkey and subsequently St Barthes.

Moving briefly to Miami in September 2007, and then on to Mexico City, Vanessa is now a freelance writer and reporter contributing to the News, Life & Style, Esquire and National Geographic Traveler in Mexico City, as well as the New York Times.

She has also worked extensively on two Time Out Guidebooks: Istanbul and Mexico City, having written the Sightseeing chapter for the latter. Vanessa is currently compiling a guide to walking tours of Istanbul for Insight Step by Step Guides, which was published in 2009.

For more info, check out www.vanessaable.com