I've owned two manual vehicles and three automatics. For day to day use, I've really come to prefer the autos. I will say though, both manuals I have owned have been M5ODs in Rangers, so not the most refined transmission. On all of the Ranger forums though everyone would say the M5OD is the best and autos are bad. In reality, it seems like M5ODs like to leak, make noise, grind going into 3rd, have clutch system problems, etc., whereas the autos can be pretty trouble free for a long time with basic maintenance.
I do enjoy driving my manual 94 Ranger on open roads without a lot of stop and go, but it gets far fewer miles than my auto Ranger and Explorer, and I have considered selling it. Every time I take it out for "exercise" though, I decide to keep it around.