About Me (us)
Hi, I'm Lynn(ie)! ☀️
Florida native, cruise lover, vacation planner, and the person behind The Sun-Packed Suitcase.
I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, and now live on Florida's Space Coast—about 15 minutes from the beach, an hour from Disney, and just 30 minutes from Port Canaveral. We can even watch rocket launches from our front yard! Living this close to Port Canaveral definitely has its benefits, especially when you love cruising as much as I do.
I created The Sun-Packed Suitcase to share the practical tips, little discoveries, and "I wish I'd known that before we went" information that can make planning a vacation so much easier.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Funny enough, I didn't really travel much growing up. We weren't one of those families loading everyone into the station wagon for a big summer road trip in the 1980s, but honestly...why would we? We had Disney World, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Circus World (later Boardwalk & Baseball), Wet 'n Wild, Mystery Fun House, and eventually Universal Studios practically in our backyard.
And yes, I went to Disney a lot as a kid. Looking back, I think growing up surrounded by vacation destinations probably had more influence on me than I realized at the time.
More than 24 years ago, I met a cute Michigander and eventually traded Orlando for Florida's Space Coast. We raised two kids here, and somehow those little kids we used to drag along to our renovation projects are all grown up now.
Our son met his fiancée while they were attending the University of North Florida. They've since bought their first home just five miles from us and both work in the medical field—at the same hospital! Our daughter graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators! 🐊) and is still at home for now, working her first "real" job and figuring out what comes next. We're incredibly proud of the lives they're building and pretty happy they haven't wandered too far from home.
AND THEN THERE ARE THE BUNNIES... 🐰
After my kids grew up, I decided to foster rabbits for a local rescue, Space Coast Bunnies, and quickly discovered that I am a TERRIBLE foster mom—not because I didn't take care of them, but because every time a bunny left, my heart broke a little.
Today we have three resident bunnies (aka foster fails) who have permanently claimed their spots in our family. My husband has officially banned me from fostering any more rabbits...and he's probably right.
FROM FIXER-UPPERS TO MORE FREEDOM
My husband and I started buying and renovating houses back in 2009. When the kids were little, we'd bring them along to job sites, put a TV and Nintendo GameCube in the cleanest room we could find, and work for as long as they'd tolerate being there.
My husband was an engineer, and I was a stay-at-home mom who somehow learned to paint, tile, drywall, renovate, and clean some seriously nasty houses while the kids were at school. It turns out you can learn a lot from YouTube!
What started as a hobby eventually grew into a rental-property business, allowing my husband to retire from his corporate career and giving us more flexibility, freedom, and opportunities to travel.
WHY THE SUN-PACKED SUITCASE?
I love cruising, but I also genuinely enjoy planning a vacation. I'm the person who wants to know where the ship docks, which hotel makes the most sense, how we're getting to the port, what we should pack, what's worth paying extra for, and what we should know before we leave home. When I discover something helpful, I want to share it.
That's what The Sun-Packed Suitcase is all about. I share practical cruise tips, port guides, packing advice, hotel and transportation information, onboard finds, and lessons we've learned from our own travels—with an extra dose of local knowledge for anyone cruising from Port Canaveral.
There's no one-size-fits-all way to vacation. What works perfectly for us might not be right for you, so my goal is to give you the information you need to make the best choices for your trip.Whether you're researching your first cruise or your fiftieth, I hope you'll find something here that makes planning a little easier—and gets you even more excited about the trip ahead.
Exploring the World
ONE SUN☀️PACKED SUITCASE AT A TIME
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