How necessary is a pantry for fulltiming?

Realistically, when you full-time it's not economical to pick up groceries at the camp store or in a small-town grocery, so you'll have a tendency to store more than weekenders do. You don't have to have a pantry but you do need a place to store things. Do a mental picture of your food storage items which are in your home now. Yes, you can eliminate a lot but you'll probably be taking all of your spices, flour, sugar etc. and those take up space. Picture all of it in the RV you're choosing. Where will you put it? Plan out your kitchen before buying the RV. If you don't have room in your kitchen, where will you store those plastic boxes? Does your RV have a lot of basement storage? Room enough for excess kitchen stuff and all the other 'necessities' you'll need to carry for full-timing? You'll also be taking along more kitchen items than weekenders, including appliances. This will be your home so it will all be traveling with you. Good luck in your new lifestyle!