I can do all of my research online in the late evening hours while I am at home. Then, put together my itinerary according to my schedule and desires.
Absolutely the only advantage of booking things on your own is that you can be 100% flexible – you don’t save money booking on arrival, and as you go. As far as the flexibility – doing a private personalized tour I am still almost 100% in control and change my plans as I wish. The only ‘hard’ deadlines I may experience while traveling is that a plane or train leaves at a certain time and if I want to use that service I have to follow their schedule.
Also realize that Vietnam is constantly changing. When I ran into a couple in a small town in the Mekong Delta in early October. They were doing it ‘on their own’ out of a guide book. They had walked around for almost an hour trying to find a nursery (the plants and flowers type), and were having absolutely no luck. They stopped me and within two minutes I had asked the locals sitting on the street where the nursery was and they informed me it was 500 meters down the road. Unfortunately, it was closed as the owner had died 4 years previous and his children didn’t want to run the business anymore. The lesson here isn’t that you should know the language, but for $10 USD these guys could have had a guide that would have saved them that hour.
I have enjoyed all my travels, but now choose to use a tour operator as I have found that, for me, they offer many significant advantages.
Have a great trip – no matter how you do it!
