What’s a vacation without a master plan?

Is any feeling more glorious than the feeling of having a week of upcoming vacation with no obligations?

Sure. I can think of several. But I am not authorized to discuss those kinds of feelings, except in “7.”

What I am talking about is the glorious feeling of having a whole week free on the calendar, with unlimited options for using it.

My wife, Carol, and I have one of those weeks coming up. It’s only a week away, yet we have no firm plans. We do not have to attend a family reunion. We have not booked a week on a cruise ship. We are not devoting a week to painting the garage, at least in part because we have no garage.

Now, I like to plan vacations as much as anyone. Many a happy evening I have spent in the winter, surrounded by brochures, maps, guidebooks and laptops, planning a summer trip in meticulous detail.

“I’m impressed with your planning skills,” Carol has been known to say, as she watches me plot out our trip. “However, we’re only going to Ritzville.”

“Oh, and that means we shouldn’t nail down reservations at the La Quinta Inn?” I reply derisively.

Planning a trip is one of a vacation’s true pleasures. In fact, it is often more enjoyable than the trip itself, since it involves sitting in our own cozy living rooms, as opposed to sitting on a sticky bench in a train station in Nepal, next to a man attempting to house-train his pet mongoose.

Still, there’s something liberating about having a plan-free week on the calendar, especially now that we are empty-nesters. It means nothing is ruled out – the entire world beckons.

Here are just a few of the things we could do with our week:

• We can watch for last minute airfare deals on United.com and fly to Myanmar.

• We can book ourselves on the High Roller charter flight to Vegas.

• We can explore scenic Pasco.

• We can hike up the St. Joe River and stalk the wild cutthroat.

• We can drive to Anaconda, Mont., and play golf on a Super Fund site.

• We can go to Seattle and see the famous Van Gogh exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.

• We can go to Seattle and see the famous Mariners lose.

• We can take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, B.C., and see the “Eternal Egypt” exhibit on loan from the British Museum.

• We can check for last-minute airfare deals and actually go to the real British Museum.

• We can watch for last minute airfare deals and fly to Fairbanks.

• We can watch for last-minute airfare deals and fly to Yakima.

• We can get in the car and go on a tour of every national park in Washington.

• We can get in the car and go on a tour of every highway construction project on I-90.

• We can head up to Kokanee Springs in B.C. and play golf.

• We can head up to Kokanee Glacier National Park in B.C. and cavort with mountain goats.

• We can go to B.C. and spend a week attempting to explain to Canadians what Americans see in George W. Bush.

• We can head to Ashland, Ore., for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

• We can head to Rock Creek, Montana, for the Testicle Festival.

• We can go to Radium Hot Springs and have a relaxing soak.

• We can go fishing on the North Fork of the Clearwater and fall in.

• We can rent a cabin on Priest Lake and pick huckleberries.

• We can go backpacking up on the Bitterroot Crest and perform moose calls with a string and tin can.

• We can run all the way down the Bitterroot Crest, chased by an amorous moose.

Well, this is just the beginning of my list.

However, I would like to point out one danger with this plan, or should I say, lack of plan. It’s entirely possible that we will allow little obligations to accumulate. We’ll have a dental appointment here, a hair appointment there. We’ll accept invitations to showers or barbecues or picnics. We’ll find home improvement chores that need to get done. We’ll buy tickets to a show or a concert.

And then we’ll be stuck right here at home, frittering away a perfectly good week that we could have spent in Myanmar.

So, where will we end up? I have no idea. The entire situation is out of our control. Maybe we’ll find a coupon special at the La Quinta in Ritzville. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m beginning to get a sinking feeling about the whole thing.