Bashō tells his students, "Do not simply follow in the footsteps of the ancients; seek what they sought." To avoid simply filling the ancient footsteps of his predecessors, he studies them assiduously, attentively.
And when he has had his fill of ancient poets and students and the infinite dialectic that is literature and art, when his heart is filled with wanderlust, he chooses a traveling companion, fills a small pack with essentials-and, of course, a few hanamuke-and walks off into the mid-May dawn, into the geography of the soul that makes the journey itself a home.
— The Essential Bashō