I owned a 1995, 42' Blue Bird Wanderlodge (Class A) for about 3-1/2 years. We put 36,000 miles on it and visited (portions of) 29 states. Most of our trips ranged from 2 to 4 months. We had planned to full time, but the real estate market did not cooperate. Our normal travel complement included my wife, our cat and myself. The Wanderlodge, with toad, took up 65 feet on the highway and had a gross combined vehicle weight of 51,000 lbs when loaded for travel.
We sold the Wanderlodge in 2009 ... and in 2011, bought a new, 2011 Roadtrek RS-Adventurous -- and it has the same set of travelers. We have used it for numerous day trips and for several trips of one or two nights up to a week or so. Plus we took one trip of about 6 weeks that was cut short due to a medical problem that required an early return to our home. The Roadtrek weighs a bit under 11,000 lbs loaded -- and we do not tow anything.
Obviously, there are numerous differences between the large "supersize bus" class A and the 22' Roadtrek.
On the plus side, the Roadtrek is much easier to maneuver over back roads -- including roads we might have simply avoided in the large coach. We are seeing more of the 'back country' since it's easy to drive on lesser-traveled routes. Indeed, the Sprinter van handles much like a larger pick up truck, though the driving position is higher (which improves the view of scenery). I am very well satisfied with the Sprinter Van -- the 2010 model year introduced a slightly more powerful engine, though the fuel rating is about the same. Over the 10,000+ miles I've driven the Sprinter, so far, it's gotten an average of about 20 mpg. That includes a moderate amount of around town driving and one day of travel on I-10 in west Texas where we cruised at the posted 80MPH speed limit -- and got 18 mpg that day. On other days, where most of the driving was at moderate (non-freeway) driving speeds, we got around 22-23 mpg.
The bed is nearly the size of a standard king bed -- much wider than the RV Queen in the Wanderlodge. We set up the bed -- and left it up while traveling. This allowed using a 'space foam' mattress topper that improved the comfort of the bed. I used some plastic bins that fit in the aisle (under the bed) for some supplemental storage. The negative about the bed is that it is entered by crawling in from the foot. Instead of making it up with sheets and blankets (as we did in the large RV), we simply put on a lower sheet -- then use sleeping bags -- and a quilt for extra warmth when needed.
The small refrigerator requires more frequent shopping trips (we had a 22 cu ft in the Wanderlodge), but it's not inconvenient as we use the van to get around while visiting sights, etc.
Storage space is a consideration. We cut down the amount of "stuff" we carry along -- we make more careful choices about clothing and give more consideration to probably weather on planned trips. We removed the street-side passenger seat (just behind the driver's seat) and installed a plastic set of drawers -- this has given us extra storage for maps, medications, and misc. other things. The "foot area" of that seat is where the cat box resides. The dining table is set up for use by the passenger seat and the rear passenger seat by the side sliding door.
Using the galley, bathroom, or just moving about inside, is a one-at-a-time situation. We quickly learned to accommodate each other and for one to remain in the bed or to sit in one of the seats while the other moves about.
It only took one (experimental) shower to convince me that the onboard shower was suitable for emergency use only. So finding campgrounds with good showers is a priority. (With the Wanderlodge, we never used campground restrooms or showers.) I use online reviews to help select "good" camping locations.
The macerator pump is OK for emptying the tanks, but I miss the gravity dump of the Wanderlodge. The gray tank does not drain by gravity, so it requires dumping almost daily. However, since we're not using the shower, our water use is rather less than I'd expected, so if necessary, we can usually go a couple days between dumps without any problem. The smaller hose is easier to handle.
Cooking/meals. My wife prefers to prepare her own food -- but the limited food storage and cooking facilities in the Roadtrek has made her modify her past practices. Breakfast and lunch doesn't present much of a problem and is similar to what we did in the larger Class A ... but dinners are more of a compromise -- I'll cook on a charcoal grill (if the campground has one) and she'll prepare the side dishes on the stove or in the microwave -- but we do eat dinners out much more frequently than we did with the large RV.
In the final analysis, we were quite happy in the Class B for the longer trip -- and we may take another trip of 6 weeks or so ... but we bought the Roadtrek mostly because we wanted to travel more on secondary roads and we'd decided to focus more on trips of a few nights or at most two weeks, most of the time.
I couldn't claim that the Roadtrek is a "replacement" for the Wanderlodge -- but it's pretty good for what it is and the occasional longer trip can be accomplished with relative comfort.
