travel alone or arraged by travel agent

I am a member of my local library and every time I go there I borrow a few travel guide books. In that way I have been able to find out which are the best guide books for the independent traveling that I do. I like the ones that have long lists of accommodation choices and tell the price of each. I buy a travel guide book for each country or region of the world that I go to. Before buying it I consider the publication date because some travel guide books are only updated every two or even three years. Sometimes a wonderful first edition to a destination will come out so if so that is excellent. I like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Footprint and Bradt Books.I typically buy a flight and then go traveling with my travel guide book. I got a cheap flight to Cancun and then bussed it down to Belize and Guatemala so I saved money and did exactly what I wanted. A travel agent wouldn't have thought of that sort of trip perhaps but I did and it was a perfect trip. It was a delightful mix of adventure and relaxation.