BootsnAll Travel Network’s Parislogue.com travel guide was featured on Google’s Parisian Love Story Super Bowl ad.

Portland, Oregon February 8, 2010 — Portland-based company, BootsnAll Travel Network was featured in Google’s Parisian Love Story Super Bowl ad on Sunday. According to Google’s blog, the ad has been airing on YouTube for several months, and it had gained such positive feedback that they turned it into a Super Bowl ad.

The ad is about an American finding love in Paris, and starts with a search for study abroad programs. The “How to impress a French girl” search features local company Parislogue.com (part of the BootsnAll Travel Network). BootsnAll CEO, Sean Keener, was at a local pub watching the game, “We were thrilled to see our company featured briefly on the Super Bowl ad. After 12 years of hard work by many people, and a little bit of luck, we’ve built our sites to the point that Google thinks our content is worthy to be displayed during a Super Bowl ad. One of BootsnAll’s values is connecting independent travelers, and this ad epitomizes one of the types of connections that happen for travelers — love.”

For additional information, contact Sean Keener or visit www.bootsnall.com.

About BootsnAll Travel Network:
BootsnAll Travel Network, started in 1998, is a community of over 30 online travel guides and resources that connect and encourage independent travel.

Contact:

Sean Keener, CEO
BootsnAll Travel Network
541-914-9150
sean@bootsnall.com
http://www.bootsnall.com
http://www.parislogue.com/travel-tips/how-to-impress-a-french-woman.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/love-and-super-bowl.html

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On the night before the Super Bowl, several BootsnAll employees went out for dinner and a few drinks at a local pub we love. Some of us made plans to watch the big football game together, but for the most part on Sunday we were scattered around the Portland area watching with family and friends.

Which is why we all had to start calling and text-messaging each other madly after we saw Google’s “Parisian Love Story” ad midway through the second half.

Didja see that? The part where the search for how to “impress a French girl” pops up? And the top search result is a post on BootsnAll’s WhyGo Paris about how to impress a French girl? Yeah, we saw it, too.

And there was much screaming.
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Generally speaking, at an internet company like BootsnAll most of the focus is on the future - writing the next post, starting the next site, booking the next trip. But this company has a fun history, and we quite like reminiscing about it from time to time. In fact, reminding ourselves what BootsnAll was about when it started back in 1998 often helps us focus on what direction we should go next.

For instance, one of the reasons Sean and Chris started BootsnAll in the first place was because they missed the camaraderie of hostel pubs and common rooms when they weren’t traveling. They missed talking to other people who loved travel as much as they did, swapping stories and sharing tips. It’s one of the things we all still love about BootsnAll today - that it gives us an opportunity to talk and hear about the way other people travel.

Which is why we’re particularly excited about a new series of articles we introduced last month called “How I Travel.” One of our feature writers, Steve Bramucci, came to us with the idea of getting people from all walks of life to talk about their travel philosophy - what they love about travel, their travel style, and travel tips they might have. We loved the idea instantly, and we’re pleased that after only a few weeks it seems like many other people love it, too.
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Ahh spring break…

I must confess that I never actually went to Spring Break. Yes, I had a week off school like the rest of you, but that week was spent diligently working full-time so I could continue paying for my tuition at university. So while my cohorts were partying it up (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) in South Padre, I was stuck at work — in the library, no less. Sad trombone.

Maybe that’s why every spring, I feel like we should get a work spring break, a one week National holiday sounds fine. We can dream, right? So, if you’re getting ready to plan your spring break travels, check out Jessica’s round-up of Spring Break travel planning tips and Student Spring Break for deals.

How about you, did you go to spring break?
(original photo by temponotempo )

For my friend Pam, I hope the lighting is a bit better this week (thanks for the feedback as well)! - Injoy and constructive feedback is always appreciated.

In This Week’s Video:

• How to make more jobs, Mr. Obama? Support entrepreneurs.
• http://gazelles.com - Entrepreneurs resource
• http://ten9eight - Entrepreneurs documentary about students (Win the DVD - see below)
• How I Travel Series at BootsnAll This kicks arse - read it and be inspired! Holly Beck, Rolf Potts

Want to see/own the documentary about Ten9Eight? Link to this post in your blog or from your website and tell me in that post “Why you are excited to see this film”. I’ll buy the DVD for my three favorite entries.

How to Enter:
1) Link to this post - http://www.bootblog.org/how-i-travel.html
2) In you blog post, share with me/your audience, why you are excited to see the movie, Ten9Eight
3) Leave a blog comment on this post with a link to your entry.

It’s not surprising that the travel deals you’ll hear talked about most often in late January (and into February) are for sunny destinations, most often involving tropical beaches and umbrella-clad cocktails. But why do winter getaways have to be in warm climates? What about the people for whom winter is the best time of year, when the white fluffy stuff falls and they’d be on the slopes every day if they could be? What about the people who relish the low off-season prices and smaller crowds in top summertime destinations - and who aren’t afraid of a little rain as they rush from museum to museum?

I’m not a summer-aholic, and in fact I’m not really into beaches at all. So when I think winter getaway, I just think about the same places I’d normally like to go - only I’m going in the winter. Which means, for me, I’m thinking again about Italy. And specifically, I’m dreaming of a visit to Venice.

I love Venice. I love her when she’s sunny and crammed with camara-wielding tourists, and I love her when she’s densely packed with nothing but fog. Of all the times I’ve been to Venice, perhaps the most memorable was a February visit a couple of years ago when the mist was so thick - through almost the entire day - that I shivered for my whole visit. And yet I still loved my dear Venice.
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It’s about this time every year that we find ourselves dreaming of a winter getaway. The excitement of the holidays are over, the next three day weekend is months off, and summer seems years away (and yes, I realize that’s not a logical thought).

What to do? Well I’m always inclined to find a deal, so one of my favorite new features on BootsnAll Travel Deals is the “Dream” tab — where you enter your departing airport and the super-duper deals engine serves up random hot deals… Maui for $288 roundtrip, next week? Yes, please! Auckland in September? Why yes, I’d love to! A brilliant way to spend your lunch break, anyway.

Need more inspiration? Southwest Airlines is having a coast-to-coast beach sale, Hawaiian Airlines is doing a “secret season” winter sale, and of course JetBlue is always throwing around cheap fares.

Happy winter getaway planning!

Awhile back I posted here about getting into the Boston Globe Travel Show for free. Turns out that was for the trade conference during the day on Friday Feb 19th, not the travel show for regular consumers like you and me that runs from the evening of Friday, February 19 to Sunday, February 21 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Sorry about the confusion there.

All is not lost though as I still have a bargain for you. It’s a half-price discount for the show. While everyone else will be paying $10 to get in, you’ll be coasting through the turnstiles having only paid $5. Not too shabby.

Register here and enter the coupon code: BNALL2010

Once again, if you’re heading to Boston for the travel show, or anytime for that matter, check out the latest deals to Boston for flights, hotels and packages.

More RTW Travel Myths

Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to have a wonderful relationship with one of the local hostels here in Portland. Jim & Britta, owners of the HI NW Portland hostel, have been extremely helpful when the BootsnAll hoards descend on portland every December for the annual party.

The Portland hostelling community got just a little bigger recently with the addition of baby Maja, and she may well be the youngest hosteler in town, beating her own mother who didn’t start hostelling until the ripe old age of 5! Britta sent us some photos of Maja sporting her BootsnAll gear. Warning: you must have a high tolerance for cute!

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