I toured 7,500 miles on a Cannondale Cyclocross Disc and would highly recommend a cyclocross bike for touring
Its true that you have to watch the geometry, I barely had clearance between my heel and panniers, so I had to adjust the panniers by tilting them a bit
I left the chain rings as they came with the bike, which proved to be a good choice. I left the cassette that came with the bike, which proved to be a bad choice, I swapped it out for a larger cassette later on during my tour, it made those hill climbs much more manageable.
The rims that came stock on it were 32 spoke and I found that they worked just fine, I never broke a single spoke in all the miles I covered.
The tires I used were Marathon Supreme 35's, which fit fine, however I didn't use fenders.
There are no eyelets on the back, so I had to buy special adapters to secure the rack on.
No point changing out the shifters to bar end, I like these much more. The disc brakes on the bike are a major plus as well.
Overall I'd say go for it, I loved touring on my cross bike.