Expressions used in Everyday Spoken English in Social and Professional contexts
The phrasal verb ‘set out’ has a number of meanings in social and professional situations. Firstly 'to set out' can mean to begin something or to start working in on something in order to achieve a specific result. If you 'set out' objects it means to put things where they can easily be seen or used by others.' Set out' can also mean to explain something in a clear, sequential or detailed way. So you can 'set out steps' or 'sent out instructions' for example.
You can use 'set out' to talk about starting or beginning a journey, especially a long one.