The `Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps` actor - who is currently undergoing treatment after doctors found a tumour in his throat - says contracting the disease made him even more appreciative of his family and he wants to spend as much quality time with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their children Dylan, 10, and seven-year-old Carys as possible.
He said: "Once we`re through this, Catherine and I are talking about taking the kids out of school for a year and travelling around the world - Phuket and Vietnam; we`d love to take the family down to New Zealand and spend some time in South Africa. We`re still trying to figure out what age you can get away with taking the kids away from their friends and not have them hate you for it.
"From now on I`m going to spend all my efforts on the people I`m closest to. When you`re younger you are so self-involved, self-obsessed. As you get older, all of a sudden, you begin to appreciate relationships, be understanding about the foibles of life, more forgiving - and you`ve got more time for the kids. It makes for a much happier marriage and family environment."
The 66-year-old star also has 31-year-old son Cameron - who is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for dealing drugs - with ex-wife Diandra Luker and the actor admits his experiences of parenthood at two stages in his life has taught him a lot.
He explained to the Guardian newspaper: "During my first marriage, my career was the most important thing in my life. I clearly know I made mistakes. There were absences.
"My eldest son, Cameron, is in the middle of a very, very difficult and tragic time. Cameron has made a couple of big mistakes in his life. He`s paid the price. On the other side of it, he`s sober. The kids really miss him, and he misses them. I`ve taken them to visit.
"Now that my own priorities are entirely different, I`m always encouraging people to wait to have a family - get yourself sorted career-wise first as much as you can."
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