Family man Mike longs to travel

Mike Munro plans to spend some of his “me time” travelling with his wife Lea and 2 children. In fact his first break will come in September when the family enjoys 2 weeks on an African safari.

Munro yesterday said he had been contemplating retirement while he is still young enough to enjoy it for some time.

“Lea and I have been talking about doing this for months really,” he told Radio 3AW. “I don’t think I’ll retire completely retire. I’ll still do a bit of charity work and volunteer, public speaking and things like that.

“It was time to go travelling with Lea. We’ve already got a couple holidays planned and (I’ll) just spend more time with her and the kids. And also I think years and years ago we all used to say you retire at 55 and you’re dead at 55 and a half but I don’t think that’s the same anymore. I think people like to take it a bit easy, earlier, while they still can.

The Nine presenter may also return to narrating Missing Persons Unit.

“David Gyngell’s been very good about asking me to come back and continue Missing Persons Unit which is still going to air,” he said.

“I guess it’s just being able to say that you’ll semi-retire, get your Super money and then decide what you might do.”

He also spoke about possible trips to Alaska and the Canadian Rockies next year. Travelling with his wife is far more appealing than living out of a suitcase for 60 Minutes.

“It’s such a hard slog, it’s just never-ending. It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in 38 years of journalism on 60 Minutes. But I do love travelling with Lea.”

Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports Nine’s former owner, James Packer, paid tribute to Munro yesterday in a personal letter to the newsman, praising his “class and style, honesty and integrity”.

And as for the future, Munro looked again towards family life.

“The next great stage in my life is to become a grandfather.”

This is Your Life screens at 7:30pm tonight on Nine.

Source: 3AW.
SMH