Have you seen what a Type-7 looks like and how much cargo it can carry?
one thing to bear in mind that a Type 7 is a large ship, so you loose all of the lucrative outpost missions, as they have Small / Medium pads and you wont be able to dock a Type 7 there.
Yup, I managed to find a Type-6 for sale, it's a great little space truck. Went from a cargo space of 16 to 64!
I did look up that stats on the Python, and I can see why it is so popular.
However my Type-6 gets the job done quite well, and I kinda like the idea of not having the same ship as everyone else. The few times I've flown in open, it felt like all I came across was, Pythons, Anacondas and Clippers.
Of course down the road, I will get one of those nice shining toys in my collection
Congrats of the new purchase
Usual progression is Type 6 then Asp Explorer or Type 7 (depending on types of missions you like to run)
My progression (back in the early days when money was harder to make) was a follows:
Sidewinder - Starting missions
Hauler - Running Rares (not really worth the money in today's economies of scale - but back in the day the thrill of jumping 200ly across the bubble from lave/leesti to Witchhaul just to sell goods for big profit)
Cobra - Running Rares (as above - better optimised route)
Type 6 - Type 7 - Cargo Haulage
Asp Explorer - Long distance Slave Smuggling (Robigo - good times when 1 scan over the whole mission caused instant failure)
Python - any missions you like.
then whatever ship you feel like moving up to...
At this point I Picked up an Anaconda and did a bit of engineering on it (nothing much just any of the expo mods Felicy Farseer offered - G5 FSD and a low lvl thruster mod)
took a run out to the Seagul Nebula via Betelguese - I picked this route as it took me over the 5000ly from Sol (a requirement needed for the unlock of prof. Palin). It was a brick to fly - but due to the jump range and loadouts available is the ship of choice for most Explorers. (Hindsight now i would have probably used an Orca or Beluga)
My first planetary landing was in the Anaconda - and first SRV trip was in Deciat looking for Arsenic for the G5 FSD mod.
Once i'd finished that the exploration bug took hold and went to Colonia (Via Sag A*) in a Cobra MKII - Got Elite in Exploration once i cashed in the data at Colonia)
Got back to the bubble did a couple of bits around (engineer unlocks etc). worked out how to make loads of money from exploration (scanning certain types of planets), then decided to head out into the void once more.
This trip I decided to set my sights further and Beagle Point Beckoned (a mere 65,000 ly from home)
I dusted off my Anaconda again for this trip (with a couple of mods for better range - mid 50's) followed the Sagittarius Carina Arm to Beagle point
the whole journey took about 6 months in total - got back to the Bubble and did some Powerplay (specifically Li Yong Rui) to get the lvl 5 exploration bonus.
Cashed in my Exploration data with a 200% bonus for a profit of something like 3.7bn Cr.
TL-DR:
make your own path do what you want, when you want - just have fun doing what you do..
there's no quick win in this game... and no final goal.
One other item to mention.. as great as this game is... if you have the opportunity, try it in VR.. it takes the game to a whole new level..
enjoy..
eddb.io
For 'goals' may I humbly suggest (if not already mentioned)... Unlock the Sol 
System and visit our 'home' 
(No other real benefit other than 'everyone does it'). 
o7
