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. Moving to Mexico City in 2007, Vanessa is now a freelance writer and reporter contributing to 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, and authored a book of walking tours in Istanbul for Insight Guides published in 2009.