Just to chime into the old debate here: I must say (IMHO) CC actually has very little bang for your buck in comparison to either straight vector programs (Inkscape, Illustrator) or raster programs (Photoshop & Gimp). Why? Mainly because any CC map--while nice and very usable for 99.9% of hobbyists--will need to be post-edited for published quality (which says a lot about the capabilities of CC); but also consider that if the learning curve is steep for any program worth its salt, why not spend the time learning a program that is both incredibly flexible and self-contained? As many reasonable people believe, if the program that's best for you is the one you're most comfortable with, why not get most comfortable with the program that's the most powerful? As a final reason, Gimp/Inskscape are free.
Like I said, not to start the "grand debate" here, since I know we have many, many, many avid, long-time fans of CC here & it is definitely a high-quality app, but I just wanted to chime in to suggest you yourself look more closely at these other apps.
Good luck!