Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing nobody can deny, Dan Buettner is amongst the most influential authors, educators, explorers, producers, public speakers, and storytellers of recent times. After all, not only has he dedicated the past two decades of his life to learning the secrets of areas wherein people lead long, vibrant lives, but he has also begun helping others implement the same. This much is actually perfectly evidenced in Netflix’s ‘Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones’ — so now that we know personal connections always play a role, let’s find out more about his own ties, shall we?
Dan Buettner Was Born in Minnesota
Although born on June 18, 1960, in St. Paul, Minnesota, as one of four sons to health enthusiasts plus travelers Dolly and Roger Buettner, it was Dan’s grandfather who helped him realize his calling. The truth is, in his own words, it did start with his father instilling “a sense of adventure” in him by taking the brothers into the wilderness for camping trips for weeks at a time while growing up. Yet, Dan’s grandfather gave him the ticket to see this world by gifting him his first bike, eventually enabling him to break three world records before realizing he needed something with more purpose.
The 1982 University of St. Thomas journalism graduate thus began working at The Washington Post before moving up to National Geographic, when he ultimately came across longevity “Blue Zones.” Therefore, as a lifelong explorer, Dan decided to delve into the same and realized that familial closeness and overall healthy relationships help improve a person’s life expectancy by 2-7 years.
It hence comes as no surprise Dan maintains constant communication with each of his loved ones to this day — in fact, he and his family FaceTime at 7 PM for 15-20 minutes every night without fail. “Every night, we have a family conversation, [all 6 of us],” he once said. “…It’s like sitting around the kitchen table 40 years ago, every day. Which we never did because we were all too goddamned busy.”
Dan Buettner’s Past Relationships and Kids
Although Dan has been quite a prominent public figure since at least the 1990s, he has managed to keep a significant portion of his personal affairs well away from the limelight. This includes details of his previous partners — short-term or long-term — especially as we know he’s the father of at least three children from relationships between 1987 and 2000.
We state this because it appears as if this 63-year-old’s kids are 36, 28, and 25 as of writing; plus, all of them have reportedly even shown interest in his Blue Zones operations at some point. Though with all this said, there is a confirmed relationship we know of — Dan dated model turned fashion designer Cheryl Tiegs for a while, but their association sadly ended in early 2009.
Dan Buettner’s Girlfriend is Also an Author
According to the last reports, Dan is blissfully involved with renowned vegan and conscious-eating New York Times best-selling author Kathy Freston (‘The Lean,’ ‘Clean Protein,’ etc.). They ostensibly began their deep-rooted romance in 2013, yet had first met in 2008, so it seems like they have since maintained such a close bond nothing and no one can ever come between them.
“About six years ago, I was at a book party at [HuffingtonPost founder] Arianna Huffington’s house [attended by] another great woman writer, a New York Times [bestseller],” Dan, the author of ‘Blue Zones’ as well as ‘Thrive’ himself, said back in 2014 at a book-signing party for Arianna. “I met this gorgeous woman here, Kathy Freston, who was vetted by Arianna. It took five years and swimming upstream, but now the love of my life is standing here next to me.” In other words, it looks like this couple has since navigated growing older, traveling the world, the COVID-19 pandemic, and various stages of life all by one another’s side, making it clear they’re in it for good.
