Meet The Hadwins – The Family Behind the Adventures
Camping in the rain, Scott moaning, Janice smiling and the kids wondering what on earth we’ve got planned next. Welcome to The Hadwins!
We’re the Hadwins – Scott, Janice, Beau, Amybelle and our four-legged family member, Roxy the Cocker Spaniel.
We’re a fairly normal British family who love getting away, exploring new places and spending time together. Although, if you’ve watched any of our YouTube videos, you’ll probably have realised that our holidays don’t always go quite to plan!
From camping in torrential rain and battling thunderstorms in Wales to reviewing holiday parks, hotels and family resorts across the UK and abroad, we’ve certainly had our fair share of adventures.
And plenty of mishaps along the way.
But that’s part of what makes it fun. Well, most of the time. Scott might disagree.
So, Who Are The Hadwins?
We’re not professional travel presenters, seasoned explorers or people who spend their holidays pretending everything is wonderful.
We’re just a family who enjoy getting away whenever we can, sharing our experiences and hopefully giving other families a few ideas for their next holiday.
Scott is the one who generally has something to say about everything. Whether it’s the price of a burger, a badly designed camping chair, a caravan that looks like it hasn’t been updated since 1982 or the British weather, you can usually rely on him to provide a running commentary.
Some might call it moaning. Scott prefers to think of it as constructive criticism.
Janice is the smiling face who somehow manages to keep everything together. Even when it’s pouring with rain, the tent is leaking or Scott has decided that the holiday is officially a disaster, Janice usually manages to see the funny side.
Beau and Amybelle are our two younger adventurers. They’re always up for exploring somewhere new, particularly if it involves swimming pools, beaches, water slides, arcades or ice cream. Although, like most children, their enthusiasm can disappear rather quickly when they’re stuck inside a tent for five days listening to the rain.
And then there’s Roxy, our red Cocker Spaniel, who joins us whenever she can. She’s become a familiar part of our camping adventures and, to be fair, probably complains less than Scott.
Together, we’re The Hadwins. Five very different personalities, one family and a shared love of getting away.
Our Family Camping Adventures – Usually With Rain Included!
If there’s one thing we’ve become known for, it’s camping in the rain.
We don’t deliberately book our camping holidays around terrible weather. It just seems to find us.
We’ve experienced everything from glorious sunshine and relaxing evenings outside the tent to gale-force winds, thunderstorms, leaking roofs and days when the only sensible thing to do was sit inside wondering why we hadn’t booked a hotel.
We’ve camped in some beautiful parts of the UK, particularly Wales, where we’ve discovered stunning beaches, spectacular countryside and some of the best coastal scenery around.
Unfortunately, we’ve also discovered just how loud rain can be when it hits a tent roof for 22 hours a day.
But despite the occasional camping disaster, we keep going back.
There’s something special about waking up somewhere different, spending time together and enjoying the freedom that camping gives you. And when the sun finally appears, it somehow makes all the miserable weather worthwhile.
Even Scott has been known to admit that. Occasionally.
Honest Holiday Park and Hotel Reviews
We love a good family holiday park, and over the years we’ve visited some of the biggest and best-known resorts in the UK.
From Butlin’s Minehead and Haven Devon Cliffs to Parkdean Resorts Trecco Bay, we’ve explored the accommodation, swimming pools, entertainment, restaurants and facilities to see whether they’re genuinely worth visiting.
We also enjoy travelling abroad, particularly to family-friendly destinations such as Menorca, where we’ve stayed in everything from basic self-catering apartments to four-star all-inclusive hotels.
And one thing we’ve learnt is that paying more doesn’t always mean getting a better holiday.
We’ve stayed in two-star apartments that we’ve absolutely loved and four-star hotels that have left us wondering where all the extra money went.
That’s why our reviews are based on what we actually experienced.
If the accommodation is brilliant, we’ll say so. If the swimming pool is impossible to get near because every sun lounger has been reserved since sunrise, we’ll tell you that too.
We’re not interested in making somewhere look better than it is.
Camping Gear Reviews – The Good, the Bad and the Completely Useless
Over the years, we’ve accumulated enough camping equipment to open a small outdoor shop.
From enormous family tents and inflatable sofas to camping beds, cooking equipment, storage units and gadgets that promise to make camping life easier, we’ve tried quite a few things.
Some have been brilliant.
Others have been an absolute waste of money.
We’ve tested equipment from familiar camping brands such as Vango, Hi-Gear and Campingaz, as well as budget products from places like TEMU.
And we’re always interested in one question.
Is it actually worth buying?
We don’t believe that the most expensive product is necessarily the best, and we certainly don’t believe every camping gadget deserves a place in your tent.
Our reviews are based on actually using the equipment during our family camping trips, rather than simply taking it out of the box and telling you how wonderful it looks.
If something works well, we’ll recommend it. If it falls apart, takes three hours to assemble or makes Scott lose the will to live, you’ll probably get to see that too.
Why We Started Sharing Our Adventures
Like many families, we started recording our holidays because we wanted to capture memories of the children growing up and the places we’d visited together.
But as we began sharing our adventures on YouTube, we realised that other people enjoyed watching them too.
Perhaps it’s because our holidays aren’t always perfect.
We don’t have a professional camera crew following us around, we don’t spend hours trying to make everything look glamorous and we’re certainly not afraid to laugh at ourselves.
What you see is pretty much what you get.
Sometimes we’re having the time of our lives on a beautiful beach. Other times we’re sitting in a wet tent, wondering whether the weather forecast could possibly have been any more wrong.
Either way, we share it.
Because holidays aren’t just about the destination. They’re about the memories, the funny moments, the unexpected disasters and the stories you end up telling for years afterwards.
And if our videos help another family choose a great holiday park, discover somewhere new or avoid buying a completely useless camping gadget, that’s a bonus.
What You’ll Find on The Hadwins Website
Our website brings together the places we’ve visited, the holidays we’ve enjoyed and the equipment we’ve tested.
You’ll find our family camping adventures around the UK, honest reviews of holiday parks and hotels, recommendations for places to visit and our thoughts on camping equipment we’ve actually used.
Where possible, we include our YouTube videos so you can see the accommodation, facilities and destinations for yourself, rather than relying entirely on photographs or written descriptions.
We also try to share useful information such as what we paid, what was included, whether somewhere was suitable for children and whether we’d genuinely go back.
Of course, prices and facilities can change, so our reviews reflect our experiences at the time of visiting.
We hope they give you a useful starting point when planning your own family adventures.
Come Along for the Ride!
We’re not entirely sure where our next adventure will take us.
It might be another camping trip somewhere along the beautiful Welsh coastline, a weekend exploring a UK holiday park or a family holiday somewhere a little warmer.
Although, knowing our luck, it’ll probably rain there too.
Whatever happens, we’ll be taking you along with us, sharing the good bits, the not-so-good bits and all the usual family chaos.
So, whether you’re here looking for an honest holiday park review, researching your next camping purchase or simply fancy watching Scott complain about the price of a cup of coffee, we’re glad you’ve found us.
We’re The Hadwins. A normal family making memories, having a laugh and occasionally questioning our holiday choices.
And remember, there’s no such thing as bad weather.
Unless you’re Scott. Then there’s plenty.
Come and join us on The Hadwins YouTube Channel and see where we end up next!