Want a fun way to protect your suitcase? Force it to wear a skin-tight body sleeve.

A Dutch company, SUITSUIT, sells bright and fun suitcase covers that'll make your bag stand out on the baggage carousel. It looks like a 3D sticker or custom air-brushed paint job. But the cover is actually highly-flexible fabric that stretches tight around your suitcase like a onesie on an absurdly fat baby, or a sweater vest around a bloated, hungover hipster.

SUITSUITCOVERS fit most rolling suitcases (2 or 4 wheels) between 68 and 82 centimeters in height, and come in dozens of eye-popping designs. My five favourites:

#1) Boombox

I need you to visit a New York hotel, grab my glasses, and bring them to me. Can you help? I swear this is legit and totally not human trafficking.

Last September, I flew to JFK in New York for an interview with Ira Glass for NPR's This American Life. He'd read my MSN story on Knee Defender (the seat lock that prevents the passenger in front of you from tilting his seat back and hitting your knees), so Ira wanted me to test this devilish device in person.

The show flew me to a hotel near JFK for a night. Then Ira interviewed me on a plane bound for Minneapolis. I was so nervous in the airport hotel (Knee Defender is so annoying, there was a real possibility that I'd get punched in the face), I barely slept. I woke up so groggy that I left my glasses in the airport hotel room.

They look a little like the glasses she's wearing (right) except my glasses are 33% more attractive and my mouth is 12% weirder.

We all have a virtual bucket list. One that doesn't exist -- yet. It includes all the experiences we crave the moment we become aware that they are available.

For me, staying in the U.K.'s new "cake hotel" (pictured below) is a prime example.

Over the past few years, items that have moved from my virtual list to its actual counterpart include: 

1. Indoor skydiving. The outdoor version is on my list, too, but it's comforting to know that a visit to Montreal's SkyVenture facility would take the parachute, airplane and 12,000 vertical feet out of the equation.

2. Casu Marzu. This Sardinian sheep’s milk cheese ferments to the point of being rotten, owing to the digestive action of cheese fly larvae. It is considered ready to eat when it is filled with thousands of maggots which, when disturbed, can jump up to 15 centimetres, forcing connoisseurs to either wear protective eyewear or use their hands to shield themselves. It sounds disgusting, yes, but there's got to be something to it. Otherwise, how did it ever become a delicacy? Of course, you could ask the same question about haggis, so...

3. Berlin's Propeller Island City Lodge. I'd like to stay in every hotel listed in the "Top 10 wackiest hotel rooms" gallery I did a while back -- even the one shaped like a giant beagle -- but the Berlin entry would allow me to check off a few bucket list items in one visit.

Wish you could use your iPad during takeoffs? You'll like this rumour:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning to change their electronic devices policy that currently prevents you from using tablets and eReaders -- like iPads and Kindles -- during takeoffs and landings. Instead of turning them off, you'll soon be asked to switch them to Airplane Mode.

According to anonymous sources in the New York Times, "the agency hopes to announce by the end of this year that it will relax the rules for reading devices during takeoff and landing. The change would not include cellphones."

The Times points out that travellers are currently told to shut off our iPads and Kindles for takeoff, "yet there is no proof that these devices affect a plane’s avionics. To add to the confusion, the F.A.A. permits passengers to use electric razors and audio recorders during all phases of flight, even though those give off more electronic emissions than reading tablets."

We certainly miss balmy weather at this time of year, but more than that, we miss meteorological variety. Enough with the snow-rain-slush-ice routine already! So, with spring promising warmer days, sunshine, and maybe even (gasp!) some patio time, this week's podium includes trips that will get you there sooner, or will help you make the most of spring once it truly sets in: 

GOLD: Low-season rates usually kick in around May 1 on the blissful Caribbean islands of the Turks and Caicos chain, but the luxurious Sands at Grace Bay resort (pictured below) is offering its low-season rates, along with a fourth-night-free promotion, one month earlier this year (as of April 1). Until Dec. 21, this can add up to pricing of less than $200 a night. To get a fourth night for free, use promo code "4NF."

Instead of smuggling a cute dog out of Mexico, why not sneak your dog in for a little pampering?

At the 'chic, all-villa' Viceroy Riviera Maya resort (located 3 miles from Playa del Carmen and just 35 minutes from Cancun's international airport), your pet gets to share your fun tropical holiday. Bonus: your pooch will get blessed by a shaman.

It's called the PetVacay Program at the Viceroy where your Fido will enjoy "the same relaxed and pampered luxury that human guests enjoy."

"Your pet will be blessed by a real shaman, lounge in his own personal palapa , be indulged with his favorite foods and truly believe that he has landed in Doggie Heaven," said the resort via press release.

WARNING:   Shamanism is a practice where you reach altered states of consciousness so you can interact with the spirit world, which can be both benevolent and malevolent. Some societies believe that shamans have the power to both cure and kill. And some say if you fail to return from an out-of-body journey, this can lead to death.

After 30 minutes spent sampling dozens of bottled scents at Essence Workshop's first-ever perfume-making class in Toronto, it was time for a cupcake break.

I have to admit that "perfume-making class" and "cupcake break" are two activities I never thought I would embrace. I'm no Ron Swanson, but I'm generally more inclined to learning the fine art of turducken assembly, for example, or taking five for a "Belgian Flag": Coffee, OJ and a Caesar.

That's why last weekend's series of workshops at the Westin Harbor Castle hotel were such a nice surprise. When I heard that the Aeroplan loyalty program was bringing the Montreal-based classes to Toronto (for 23,500 miles a head), and noticing that my trusty bottle of Baldessarini was running low, I decided to sign up.

I had taken part in a truncated version at a Toronto media showcase in November -- where Aeroplan highlighted its growing roster of "experiential" rewards -- and was keen to try the full-length class. And just so we're clear, this had nothing whatsoever to do with spending a couple of hours in the company of Ruby Brown (pictured at left), an international model and co-founder of Essence, along with French chemist Marion Maire.

So this is strange and fantastic:

A hotel in Kenya, Giraffe Manor, gets its name from the spotted looky-loos who stick their tall necks through the hotel windows when they want to chow down.

Imagine you're staying at this unique hotel and sitting in the sun room for breakfast. You're huddled over your espresso, trying to wake up after a pleasurable night of gin and tonics. You're yawning, stretching, downing your orange juice, and tucking into your breakfast croissant, when suddenly --

When I'm not travelling, I dream of exotic beaches, markets, and rail tours where I'm fighting bad guys on top of the train.

To help my travel dreams flow each night, I fill our apartment with inspiring, travel-themed art.

Last week I learned how to build these fantastic DIY Vintage Suitcase Shelves. This week I've stumbled across these vivid wall posters inspired by vintage luggage tags.

A London-based illustator and graphic artist, Neil Stevens, has designed a series of wall prints inspired by classic airport baggage tags. I emailed Stevens to ask him how he came up with this concept.

"I was converting my loft into a studio space when I cleared out a lot of old luggage labels and straight away was transported back to those destinations," wrote Stevens.

"I immediately went to the sketch pad to draw a few out, and then researched vintage 1950's and '60s tags and made the decision there and then to just create as many as I could in one afternoon."

To date, he's created baggage tag posters for airports in New York City, JFK, Paris, London, Istanbul, Montreal, Barcelona, and Venice.

Now that March Break is in most Canadians' rear-view mirrors, the phrase "I can't wait for summer" is cropping up with growing regularity (even though spring isn't here till Wednesday). This week's podium, then, is devoted to deals on getaways that will help you get a head start on June 21 (the first day of summer, if it isn't already circled on your calendar):

GOLD: Club Med’s new "Happiness Sale" offers discounts of as much as 20 per cent at dozens of all-inclusive resorts around the world. But the promotion's biggest savings are reserved for the chain's North American properties, with week-long stays at Florida's Sandpiper Bay (pictured below), Ixtapa, Mexico, and Turkoise in Turks and Caicos discounted by at least 40 per cent and starting at $749 a person (not including airfare). The promotion runs until May 7 for travel through Oct. 23. Plus, as of April 27, children aged three and under stay for free at the North American resorts, and those five and under stay free everywhere else.