I’m Angela Neal Grove a photojournalist who loves keeping a finger on the pulse around the globe. A Brit transplant from London, I call San Francisco home, and now regard myself as mid-pond.
With a father posted to the Middle East during WW2, and a mother whose love of cooking was inspired by travels in France and Italy, my wanderlust was ignited early.
Recently I combined love of travel, passion for photography and profession of writing into a Blog with a global perspective.
Since writing and talking are inseparable I enjoy giving travel presentations with lots of my images. I take audiences along the Silk Road; hiking through Yunnan Province, China, searching for Shangri La; Along the Irrawaddy by boat; Behind Palace Walls in India and on a recent expedition to the remote Arctic in a small boat.
In The Beginning….
Horoscopes, Farming notes, Travel, Gardens, Interior Design, Fashion and Fitness as well as profiles are all in s day’s work for a journalist, and I have written about all of them.
My writing career began covering Fashion and Design for the British Colour Council. After a brief stint writing farming notes for the Fertilizer Journal, I moved to Fleet Street and high-circulation national magazines.
As a sub-editor at Woman and Home I wrote horoscopes, under the nom de plume, Madame Francesca. Then at Woman’s Realm I was a Fashion and Fitness editor creating monthly features and visual.
Across The Pond…
Travel writing was natural after I moved to California. I have written numerous stories about England as well as global travel for the Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. A contributor to The Family Travel Guide, I wrote a chapter on Tunisia, after I had driven with my daughters, then aged 6 and 8, to the edge of the Sahara. This was followed by books on the Silk Road, Yosemite and most recently An ABC of Animals, a book for children with images of animals photographed on my travels
Call Of The Wild…
An inveterate traveler, overland journeys have lured me to some crazy places. The longest was 72 days from London to Kathmandu, Nepal. From the Mayfair Hotel, London, the trail of Marco Polo was followed from Venice through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, (when there was still a King), the Khyber Pass, Pakistan, India, including Kashmir, before reaching Kathmandu.
After that I traveled alone through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Laos I inadvertently spent the night in a house of ill repute!
After years of extensive world travel with my children and husband, I took another epic journey with friends, following The Ancient Silk Road across China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. From Tashkent I continued on alone, aboard Train 5 from Tashkent, Uzbekistan to Moscow
This is a three day journey trundling across the Central Asian steppe skirting the remains of the Aral Sea. The worst experience was being ordered to leave the train at midnight in the Kazakh steppe due to a visa issue. I survived to tell and write about this.
The Garden Path…
As a member of the Garden Writer’s Association of America, I photograph and write about gardens around the world. (Gardens are in my Brit DNA).
I have contributed design as well as garden stories to publications including:
The San Francisco Chronicle Home Page, California Home+Design, where I was a regular columnist, Gentry and the Nob Hill Gazette
Work With Me…
Contact Angela
For Speaking Engagements, Writing assignments and Radio interviews, please contact me using the form below. Thank you.