Belongings sold, couple sets off for a year abroad

In 1996, Jon Krakauer wrote a book called Into the Wild - Sean Penn made it into a movie in 2007. In the book, a man, after graduating from college, frees himself of his belongings and, with limited supplies, travels to Alaska to find himself. He dies at the end.

"We hope things turn out better for us," said Michael Milne.

Michael and his wife, Larissa, have embarked on a comparably ambitious, more thoroughly organized expedition around the world. Unlike Krakauer's protagonist, the Milnes are in their 50s.

They sold their house in Upper Dublin, their cars, and basically everything else - what was left fits into a 10-by-10-foot storage unit. They left their jobs, said goodbye to their friends, and on Aug. 26 flew to China to begin a 12-month journey to everywhere, yet nowhere in particular.

They don't know where, exactly, they're going - they schedule only two months in advance - but there was just one place to begin: the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. You see, they are taking the Rocky statue, a miniature version, with them.

"The thing about Rocky is that he didn't win, but he went the distance," Michael said, "and that's our goal for this trip."

If you look at pictures from that day at the Art Museum, you'll notice that Larissa and Michael, despite their Rocky fanaticism, are not doing the statue's classic arms-raised pose. That's for a specific reason: Rocky didn't raise his arms until the end, and that's exactly what the Milnes will do when they return to the steps next year.

Believe it or not, everything the couple do is for a reason.

They've started a travel blog - called Changes in Longitude - and even had business cards made. There's clearly something entrepreneurial at hand here.

"If you get lucky, you can make a living out of a travel blog," Larissa said. "It's not just about what we do, it's a resource for people who want to plan their trips."

The couple will blog and also write for The Inquirer's Travel section over the next year. They say they will consider publishing a travel book, depending on how much interest they receive.

"We're just not ready to retire," Larissa said. "We can't afford it."

How, then, can they afford to travel the world?

"If people are doing well at their jobs, they buy a Shore house or buy a Lexus," Michael said. "I'd rather do this."