If you've found yourself here after watching my tent tour on TikTok (or because you're deep in a camping research rabbit hole at 11pm), welcome!

When we were shopping for a tent, I spent an embarrassing amount of time watching other people's setups. Turns out there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing how everyone organises their temporary little home. So I thought it was only fair that I returned the favour.

Here's a closer look at our Vango Savannah 600XL and why we've absolutely fallen in love with it.

Why We Chose the Vango Savannah 600XL

Camping has definitely evolved for us over the years.

Gone are the days of squeezing everything into a tiny tent and pretending waking up with a numb shoulder is "part of the experience."

Now? We like our camping with a little bit of comfort.

The Savannah 600XL gives us plenty of room to spread out, stand up properly (always a bonus) and actually enjoy spending time inside the tent if the British weather decides to do what it does best.

The Living Area

This is probably my favourite part of the tent.

It feels genuinely spacious without feeling like you're living in an aircraft hangar. We've got room for our camping furniture, somewhere to cook if needed, somewhere to sit with a book, and enough space that you're not constantly climbing over bags every five minutes.

It makes those slower campsite mornings with a coffee feel even better.

Our Bedroom Setup

A good night's sleep makes or breaks a camping trip.

The bedrooms in the Savannah feel roomy enough for a proper mattress and still leave space for the inevitable pile of clothes that starts neatly folded and somehow ends up... less so.

The darker bedrooms are also a huge plus if, like me, you don't particularly fancy being awake the moment the sun pops up.

Organisation Is Everything

I wish I could tell you I'm one of those effortlessly organised campers who packs only the essentials.

Unfortunately, I see an empty storage pocket as a personal challenge.

One thing I really appreciate about this tent is how easy it is to keep everything organised. Having designated places for shoes, bags and all the random camping bits makes life so much easier throughout the week.

Although somehow I still spend ten minutes looking for the bottle opener.

Little Details That Make a Big Difference

It's often the smaller features that end up making the biggest difference.

The large windows let loads of natural light in, the ventilation keeps things comfortable on warmer days, and multiple entrances mean you're not constantly asking someone to move because you've forgotten something in the car.

Again.

Is the Vango Savannah 600XL Worth It?

For us, absolutely.

It's a tent that feels like a proper home from home. Whether we're away for a weekend or a longer camping trip, having that extra space makes such a difference to how relaxed the whole experience feels.

Yes, it's a bigger tent. Yes, it takes a little longer to pitch than something much smaller.

But once it's up, you'll quickly forget about the extra few minutes.

Watch the Full Tent Tour

If you'd like to see exactly how we've set everything up, where we keep all our camping gear and get a proper look inside the Vango Savannah 600XL, you can watch my full tent tour over on TikTok.

I'd love to know what your camping setup looks like too. Are you a minimalist camper who packs with military precision, or are you, like me, convinced you'll definitely need six blankets, three lanterns and enough snacks to survive a week even though you're only away for two nights?

No judgement here.

Molly

Whenever people find out I read over 100 books a year, they tend to assume one of two things.

Either I’m some kind of intellectual powerhouse who spends every spare moment in a leather armchair, sipping tea and contemplating literary themes like “mortality” and “rain as symbolism”.

Or I have absolutely nothing else going on in my life.

The truth is significantly less poetic.

I’m a Kindle reader.

Which means my entire reading system is powered by a small glowing rectangle I treat with more care than my phone, my laptop, and occasionally my social life.

I do read a lot, genuinely. But not in a dramatic, candlelit-library sort of way. It’s more… slightly chaotic, always-on-the-go, “just one more chapter” energy that somehow turns into 100+ books a year.

The Kindle is the real reason any of this works.

It lives in my bag like a very polite addiction enabler. It comes on awkward lunch breaks during training, in queues, in waiting rooms, and into bed where I absolutely intend to read for ten minutes and then somehow find myself still awake at 1:13am because apparently I needed to know what happened to a fictional character’s unresolved childhood trauma.

Battery anxiety is also a key part of my reading strategy. Nothing motivates you to read faster than seeing your Kindle drop to 12% and suddenly becoming emotionally invested in finishing the chapter before it dies.

I don’t really have “reading time” in the traditional sense. I have fragments of time I aggressively convert into reading:

• Waiting for something? Kindle.
• Avoiding doing something? Kindle.
• Sitting down for “just a minute”? Accidentally three chapters.
• Bedtime? Technically sleep, but also Kindle.

The secret, if there is one, is that I don’t rely on motivation. I rely on convenience. The Kindle removes every possible barrier except my own lack of self-control, which turns out to be surprisingly negotiable when a good book is involved.

And yes, I still abandon books.

A bad book on a Kindle feels less dramatic than a bad physical book. There’s no guilt of a half-read paperback judging you from the bedside table. You just quietly move on like it never happened. Emotional closure, but make it digital.

Reading 100+ books a year doesn’t mean I’m constantly in some enlightened literary state. Sometimes I’m reading genuinely brilliant fiction. Sometimes I’m hate-reading something because I’m stubborn. Sometimes I’m just flipping pages because I need my brain to stop thinking about emails.

The Kindle just makes all of that frictionless.

Which is either a triumph of modern technology… or a very efficient way of ensuring I never leave my house without a fully charged escape mechanism.

Probably both.

Anyway, if you need me, I’ll be ignoring my to-do list in favour of “just one more chapter", which, as we all know, is never just one more chapter.

Molly

Yet somehow, I absolutely love it.

There is something about escaping everyday life, packing up the camping gear and heading off with no real agenda other than eating well, exploring somewhere new and hoping the weather forecast hasn't lied to you. Again.

Camping forces you to slow down in a way that normal life rarely allows. At home, there's always a washing basket staring at you, emails piling up or a never ending list of jobs that "only take five minutes". On a campsite, your biggest decision might be whether it's too early to start thinking about lunch...

The simple things become highlights. A bacon sandwich cooked outside tastes infinitely better than one made in your own kitchen. Watching the sunset with a drink in hand somehow feels like a major event. Even sitting outside the tent doing absolutely nothing suddenly becomes a perfectly acceptable use of time.

Of course, camping isn't always the idyllic lifestyle you see on Instagram. There are air beds that mysteriously deflate at 3am, tent pegs that disappear into another dimension and the inevitable British weather that can deliver all four seasons before lunchtime. But that's part of the charm.

What I enjoy most is the sense of freedom. You don't need expensive hotels or a packed itinerary. Give me a decent campsite, a good pub nearby and a pair of trainers and I'm perfectly happy.

Camping reminds me that life doesn't always need to be complicated. Sometimes the best weekends are the ones spent outdoors, slightly muddy, slightly sunburnt and wondering why you've packed everything except the one thing you actually need.

Molly

There’s something incredibly satisfying about a book that immediately transports you somewhere sunny, glamorous and completely detached from real life and The Honeymooner did exactly that for me.

If you love books packed with holiday vibes, opposites attract chemistry and a slightly chaotic “finding yourself after heartbreak” storyline, this is such an easy, bingeable read. Set in the dreamy Paradise Bay resort, the whole story feels warm, escapist and ridiculously easy to sink into.

The Honeymooner is actually the first installment in an eight book series, all centred around Paradise Bay and the characters connected to it. That said, each book can absolutely be read as a standalone, which I always appreciate because there’s nothing worse than accidentally starting a series and feeling completely lost.

Also just to note that the photo I’m using here is technically a picture of the second book in the series, which follows Harrison’s sister Emma. I’m already continuing the series - I'm on book six!

So, what’s it about?

Libby’s life is meticulously planned… right up until she’s abandoned at the altar by her fiancé.

Instead of wasting the honeymoon she’d carefully organised, she heads off to Paradise Bay alone, determined to salvage at least something from the disaster. Naturally, things become a lot more complicated once she meets Harrison Banks, the charming, laid-back resort owner who is basically the complete opposite of everything Libby thought she wanted.

Cue plenty of tension, forced relaxation, self-discovery, and some very obvious chemistry.

Tropes & spice

We’ve got:

• opposites attract
• forced proximity
• sunshine holiday romance
• “uptight planner meets relaxed chaos man”
• emotional reset after heartbreak

The chemistry between Libby and Harrison feels playful and natural throughout the book, which made the romance really enjoyable to read. Their banter genuinely carried a lot of the story for me and stopped it from feeling too overly sentimental.

As for spice, I’d call this fairly mild to medium overall. There’s definitely chemistry and romantic tension, but it still keeps that cosy, chick lit feel rather than becoming super heavy on spice.

Would I recommend?

Yes! Especially if you’re looking for a lighthearted escapist read.

The tropical setting completely steals the show at times. Paradise Bay is written so vividly that you can practically picture yourself sitting poolside with a cocktail while reading. It’s the kind of setting that makes you want to immediately price up flights somewhere warm (which I'm already doing... oops! Don't tell my husband!)

I also really liked Libby’s character growth throughout the story. Watching her slowly let go of control and rediscover herself after everything falls apart felt surprisingly relatable beneath all the romance and humour.

That said, this is definitely more of a comfort read than a deeply emotional one. It leans heavily into feel-good vibes and romance tropes rather than intense emotional depth but honestly, sometimes that’s exactly what you want.

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for something fun, flirty and full of sunshine energy, The Honeymooner is such a lovely choice. It’s easy to read, comforting, romantic and perfect for spring or summer reading.

Perfect if you love:

• tropical holiday romances
• opposites attract dynamics
• cosy rom-com energy
• books that feel like a holiday in themselves

And if you enjoy authors like Meghan Quinn or Emily Henry, there’s a good chance this will be right up your street too.

How to read

You can read The Honeymooner on Kindle Unlimited, or pick up a paperback copy online or in-store depending on your preferred format.

We recently visited The Bell Inn for Sunday lunch and honestly, it was one of those roasts that instantly reminds you why pub lunches in the New Forest are so hard to beat.

We were tucked away in one of the quieter side rooms which ended up being such a lovely surprise. The atmosphere felt cosy without being stuffy and the music choice was absolutely spot on for me, more punk rock than your typical country pub playlist, which gave the whole place a bit more personality and made it feel refreshingly different.

We both opted for the beef roast and were really impressed. Everything tasted genuinely good quality, from the beef itself right down to the vegetables. The Yorkshire puddings deserve a special mention because they were exactly how I like them, delightfully spongy with substance to them, rather than the overly crispy “all air” versions you sometimes get served elsewhere.

The gravy was rich, glossy and full of flavour. They didn’t absolutely drown the plate in it, but there was enough to enjoy everything properly without the roast turning into soup, which actually felt quite balanced.

The seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes were equally delicious and it all felt well thought out rather than just piled onto a plate for the sake of it. Proper comforting Sunday food done really well. Their menu focuses heavily on seasonal British ingredients and traditional Sunday roasts, which definitely came across in the quality of the meal. 

Service was another highlight. Everything was quick, efficient and really friendly without feeling rushed. One thing I particularly appreciated was that we were asked about sauces when ordering, which sounds minor but meant there was no awkward wait once the food arrived, we could dive straight into the roast immediately, which is exactly what you want when you’re starving on a Sunday afternoon.

The only thing that genuinely caught us off guard was the wine pricing. When ordering, I originally was going to go for a large glass of wine however, our waiter said it would be more cost effective (if ordering more than one glass) to purchase the bottle. We asked the cost of one large glass of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to be told it was £19 which was slightly eye-watering, so I opted for a different drink. The roasts themselves, however, felt really reasonably priced for the quality coming in at £22, which felt like good value.

Overall, we’d absolutely return to The Bell Inn. Great food, genuinely lovely service, a cosy atmosphere with a bit of edge to it, and one of the better beef roasts we’ve had in a long time.

Molly