Howdy "from Texas", from Texas !!
I live in Austin and I've lived and travelled in RVs since 2010.
I've owned literally every kind I think there is.
I said this earlier in the post on burping the fridge, but if youre single, which I am as well; your MUCH CHEAPER AND BIGGER AND EASIER TO MAINTAIN CHOICE, would be a pickup truck with a big slide in camper.
Buy an older mechanical diesel extended cab(I'd suggest a 4X4) if you like diesel, I personally love my 1996 Dodge v10 gas.
Only 8.5 mpg at 70 with the huge slideins on but about 11 with it off, but it doesn't slow down for anything !! Lol. Although if I was going full time travel I'd get the dually to more safely pull my 25ft boat.
The main advantage to a class b are only 2. It's a little narrower and that if you have a codriver they can cook or use the bathroom and come right back and sit next to you.
If you are travelling alone, these do not apply.
You have to stop to use the bathroom or cook either way and the difference in width is nominal unless your only concern is "point 5" miles per gallon.
A bigger slidein with a shower(mine has an inside and a separate outside shower) will be a WAYYY bigger shower.
The bed is WAYYY bigger, the dinette is bigger, bigger fridge usually and also has more windows that actually open as well as typically more roof vents and better insulation.
Also, more storage and you can also unload it if you are staying in one place for a while and go fourwheeeling with only the truck or go to town without securing everything again.
I took a 6 week trip up the Texas coast with my Dodge and my slidein two years ago from South Padre all the way to Louisiana hitting every major area and my slidein didn't have an AC.
HOWEVER, it was bearable in feb-march because it has a HUGE escape vent hatch and 2 others and tons of windows w screens that actually open as well as the screen door.
My class b has air and I would have DIED making that same trip with it without AC, which means I would have had to run my generator quite a bit when in my slidein I was comfy.
Anytime I could get in the shade it wasn't hot and opened all up once the sun went down it would cool off.
Unless you have a screened "poptop" van(which I've also had), a can WILL NOT COOL DOWN without all the doors open(and then you get bugs), or you need the AC.
ALSO, with a slidein you don't get the pickups engine and transmission heat into the camper, with the van you get some even if it may not seem like it.
So, I've got both and I like them both, BUT if you are planning on going alone full time...
If it was me I would ABSOLUTELY choose an extended cab 4X4 pickup with either gas or diesel(if diesel then I'd get an older mechanical one as the new ones are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive to fix).
My truck is a 1995 regular cab 3/4 Dodge without 4x4, but if I was gonna go full time small that is what I'd get and I'd either go with my v10 which I love or a mechanical Cummins.
Also, if you go newer a pickup will hold value better than a sprinter and you can buy a REALLY nice slidein for 4500.00 and often less.
If you want some pics, email me and I can send you both my pickup and my class b parked on the beaches of Texas.
Like I said, I love them both but if I was gonna go SOLO full time small on the road I'd definitely go slidin with a truck under it. Go look at some to see what's best for you after you compare them, but as a fellow texan I almost have to presume you'd rather be in a truck when driving !! Lol !!
My email is
louisianageneral@gmail.com .
Best regards and good luck !!
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