Born and raised in a small Wiltshire town, Helen spent her first family holiday on the exotic Isle of Wight, which gave her severe wanderlust from a young age. Though she only escaped as far as Canterbury to go to university, she spent a year of her degree in San Diego, California, theoretically studying theatre, literature and culture but in practice mainly studying mostly the American people.

On graduating in 2004, she spent a very happy year on the backpacker trail through southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand before feeling the pull of home and landing a ‘proper job’ at the Guardian, where she worked on family-friendly travel guides to camping, walking, the seaside and much more besides for three years before joining Rough Guides as a travel editor. 

Now freelance, Helen rests her battered suitcase in north London and regularly writes content for the Guardian, the Observer and Time Out, as well as editing for Rough Guides and contributing to the odd travel book while she tries to get around to starting