PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The day after leaving office in 2003 following his eight-year stint as Maine’s governor, Angus King hit the road.

For 5½ months, King, his wife and their two children lived in a 40-foot RV as they circumnavigated the country.

The journey was King’s way of making the transition from being the state’s top executive with a staff, constant press attention and 24-hour-a-day police protection to being an ordinary citizen again.

King is now coming out with a book chronicling his journeys called, “Governor’s Travels, How I Left Politics, Learned to Back Up a Bus, and Found America.” The book will be in bookstores in mid-July.

King says the book drives home the themes of transitioning, travel, family and encouraging people to live their dreams.