About us

Poorna Bell - Senior Travel Editor

Poorna Bell is the Senior Editor of MSN Travel. Poorna commissions new writers, writes features and takes part in the everyday running of the site, including finding the latest travel hotspots and chatting to Travel fans on Twitter and Facebook.

She has been a journalist and editor for eight years, working in print and online, for a variety of magazines, websites and newspapers. She studied English at Queen Mary University, where handily, lectures only started after 12pm. She has written for as long as she can remember, from travel diaries, angsty teenage poems to university newspaper columns.

Her first break was working as a reporter for a local newspaper, after which she moved into women's magazines, becoming editor of Asiana magazine at the age of 25. She then went on to work as travel editor for the London Paper, features editor for Grazia India and a magazine consultant for several titles; she subsequently worked freelance for the Guardian's travel pages, the Sunday Times Travel magazine, Sphere, Conde Nast Traveller India, the Daily Telegraph and the Observer, among other publications.

Throughout her career she has also been a regular contributor on BBC radio, as well as appearing on The Clothes Show, Sky News, BBC News and ITV.

Poorna has long had the travel bug but working on the travel pages at the London Paper cemented her love for it. "Nothing beats that feeling of turning up in a new place, just anticipating all the adventures, people you're going to meet and new sights you're going to see," she says.

Poorna loves adventure travel and anything that involves a new experience, but she also enjoys trips that involve doing very little - from hanging out on the beach to trying new wines. This does not, however, extend to camping of any kind.

Her top tip is: "Don't be afraid to travel on your own - some of my best trips have been solo."



 

Lifestyle Editor: Jess Edwards

Jess started her career in online publishing five years ago right here at MSN during her University holidays.

Post-graduation, she took up a full-time post in advertising before moving to the editorial team earlier this year to work as Lifestyle Editor on Her, Food and Travel.

She loves fashion – despite the damage it does to her wallet – and Glee, Great British Bake Off and Homeland (read: every episode without fail).

Lifestyle Editor: Ginny Weeks

After completing her Fashion Journalism degree at UCCA back in 2007, Ginny began working as a trend forecaster and reporter for WGSN- the world’s top trend forecasting service for the fashion and lifestyle industries. 

Here she worked for clients as diverse as Topshop, YSL Beauty and Ferrari. 

Then, after a brief diversion into fashion and beauty PR, she returned to her real passion - writing travel, fashion, beauty and motoring features, most recently for magazines SLiNK, 1883, Top Gear and now MSN Lifestyle.

Rachel Burge, Travel writer

Rachel Burge works as a freelance travel and lifestyle writer. Originally from Worcestershire, after graduating from university, Rachel spent a year travelling the world, working her way around India, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

After returning to England, Rachel wrote travel features for a Brighton-based magazine before going on to work for a lifestyle magazine publishing company. After making the move to online media, Rachel worked in London for seven years before moving back to East Sussex to pursue a career as a freelance writer.

Rachel now writes for websites and magazines including MSN Travel, Cosmopolitan, Aol, Yahoo, ivillage, Channel4 beauty, MTV, Sky and Everyday Health. As a contributor to MSN Travel she has written about everything from how to survive a plane crash to visiting Britain’s best gardens. Her favourite places are Thailand and New Zealand, and her worst moment abroad was being covered in bed bug bites from head to toe in Malaysia.

David Whitley, Travel Writer

David Whitley is a travel writer who globetrots the world writing for the likes of BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller (UK) and the Sydney Morning Herald. It's basically an elaborate excuse to hunt down bizarre museums and mini-golf courses, but it provides excellent cover. He blogs at www.grumpytraveller.com and he's @MrDavidWhitley on Twitter.

Andy Jarosz, Travel Writer

Andy is a freelance travel writer who contributes regularly for BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller and Coast Magazine. He also owns 501places.com, recently listed by The Times in their 50 Top Travel Websites list. Andy has been an avid traveller since the age of 5, when he ventured 9 miles from home in search of his first adventure before being found by his panic-stricken parents.