Regarding the cintiq-question: I personally use an intuos medium aswell, but abut two years ago my sanity took a quick vacation and I got myself a Microsoft Surface Book. I thought it was a great idea at the time, because I wanted to get back to mapping and be able to do it sitting on my couch. The Microsoft Pen, the screen and any program I used convinced me otherwise, though...
That aside, though, it was the first time for me drawing directly on the screen, and I didn't like it. Personally, I got very quickly used to drawing on a tablet while looking on the screen. In my opinion, that's way better, because your hand is not in the way and you can see everything.

I love threads like this, btw. It's always great to get a glimpse of somebody else's process, and this one is no exception!