EP 34 - To Venus and Back, Part 3 of 3 – Last Orbits Around Venus: Dakota, Christine, and Moving On
In the final part of our series with Turner Grant, we jump into his “last orbits” around Venus: the intense long-distance Paris connection with Dakota, the secretive New York encounters with Christine, and the slow realization that online dating had turned into a treadmill to nowhere.
Turner shares how fantasy and reality collided, what it felt like to be someone’s “Finch” from Out of Africa, and why a simple airport sign cut deeper than any bad date. We also dig into the mystery, status, and secrecy around Christine — black Suburbans, security, champagne in Times Square — and the dawning awareness that some stories are compelling but not sustainable.
We close with Turner’s decision to leave online dating, what he wants other Boomers and Gen Xers to know about baggage, expectations, and hope, and how his three-year experiment became To Venus and Back.
“What you’ll learn” bullets
In this episode, listeners will learn:
- How the long-distance Paris connection with Dakota unfolded — and why being cast as “Finch” from Out of Africa was a red flag, not a compliment.
- What it feels like to realize you’ve stepped into someone else’s fantasy script, and how to recognize when you’re being asked to play a role instead of being yourself.
- The story of Christine — secrecy, security details, champagne bars, hot dogs in Times Square — and the moment Turner realized he was being kept in the dark.
- How, by Year 3, online dating began to feel like being a serial dater on a treadmill, and how to recognize that same burnout in your own life.
- Why it’s unrealistic to expect anyone in their 50s or 60s to be baggage-free—and how to stop dating like a 25-year-old.
- Turner’s biggest lessons for midlife daters: pacing, boundaries, self-respect, and how to stay hopeful without being naïve.
- How his three years and 54 meetups became To Venus and Back, and how the book can give you a head start on your own journey.
About Turner Grant:
From the Book's Back Cover:
Two Years after the Unexpected death of his wife, Turner Grant was ready to consider love once more. Yet everything changed, and he soon found himself adrift in the digital-dating world.
At age fifty-one, Turner Grant became a widower and single parent to his twin boys. Deep in grief, he often found daily routines difficult and his work arduous. But after two years, Turner embarked on a journey to find his future, both in life and love.
What Turner discovered shocked him. After tentative steps into the shallow dating waters, he was quickly immersed in a deep ocean filled with unexpected riptides and crosscurrents within a digital-dating universe that didn’t exist when he last dated decades earlier.
In three years, he met fifty-four single, middle-aged women who took him to a totally different world—Venus. It was a journey—a journey that’s, well … complicated.
Website: https://tovenusandback.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKS8GQHQ/
About The Midlife Dating Podcast / 50 Dates at 50
Paul Nelson is the host of the Midlife Dating Podcast and creator of the 50 Dates at 50 website. Helping Gen X and Baby Boomer singles learn to date smart, enjoy the process, and move from right swipe to real-life meetups with frameworks like the 3-1-1 Rule and Right Swipe Discipline.
- Learn more and grab resources at 50 Dates at 50 – https://50datesat50.com/
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Apr 21 202658 mins