The worst thing you could possibly do is
not to listen when she says she does not like driving the stick shift. I have been very happily married for the greater part of almost 30 years, and I can tell you this. A man who doesn't listen when his woman tells him she doesn't like something is not using wisdom. I went down this very road myself. I taught my wife how to drive a stick shift. She said it made her shoulder hurt. I didn't listen. She drove up and down the hills of San Francisco every day. She now has arthritis in that shoulder. I didn't listen when she said she wanted to trade for an automatic. I imagine she already had some kind of injury there, but it might have gotten better. As it happened, the repetitive motions of shifting made it worse. She has forgiven me, but the discomfort she undergoes on a regular basis is a constant reminder to me that a man should listen to what a woman says about what she is comfortable with. I'll guarantee you the saying is true, "Happy Wife = Happy Life." I learned something from that: "Listen to what she says. Give HER what SHE wants, and your reward will be great."
As to what would work for the situation you describe, here is something we considered: an automatic F350 4x4 with an Alaskan Camper:
http://www.alaskancamper.org/desktop.html
You might consider whether you want to start with a normal long bed, a utility bed, or a flatbed. You can see examples of each in the links. One flatbed has a wider than average camper. Some of the slide ins are on utility trucks with exterior lock boxes. Those could meet the storage needs you describe. The truck in this next pic looks to be a regular pickup to which cuts have been made into the sidewalls of the bed and locking storage compartments inserted into the cavities.
http://www.alaskancamper.org/Desktop-Pages/Image11.html
There may be times when you'd want to tow a travel trailer behind this rig. Like this:
http://www.alaskancamper.org/Desktop-Pages/Image44.html
Used TTs can be found for cheap and that gives a lot of extra space when you plan on staying on good roads. You can leave the TT in camp and take the truck on shorter outings. If you go with a standard pickup bed, you also could take the Alaskan off and put on a regular shell in order to haul cargo, like bikes. When you want to go into the back country, you could take just the Alaskan and take advantage of the 4x4. The third pic on this next page proves the lift on the Alaskan has the power to elevate the roof along with cargo weight on top.
http://www.alaskancamper.com/canoe.html
A standard pickup bed, a utility bed, or a flatbed each has its own advantages. A standard bed would allow you to swap the Alaskan for a regular shell when you want to carry covered cargo. You don't have the compartments like a utility bed, but you can insert smaller compartments into the bed walls. A utility bed offers the most compartmentalized storage (the boxes extent out wider than the truck cab), but swapping the Alaskan out with a shell could be a challenge, though here's an example:
http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=3786&aid=30852&lid=8707504 (It would likely require a costly custom build. EDIT: funny thing-that rusty old bed off the truck is the only pic I could find on Google, yet I saw a nig clean brand new one on a utility truck less than an hour after my original posting here!!) A flatbed would allow a wider Alaskan to be put on top at the expense of the utility boxes. Like the one vehicle in the pics, though, you could have 3 utility boxes and a propane tank (or 4 utility boxes) mounted on the underside of the bed, fore and aft of the wheels. If you used a regular width Alaskan an a flatbed, you could put more utility boxes above the edge of the bad on both sides as well; some of the pics on the Alaskan sites show that configuration. You couldn't swap the wider Alaskan for a shell on a flatbed though.
If you have limited funds, think about which of these setups would allow you to start with the basics, then add one component at a time as the money becomes available. The easiest of these would be to start with a traditional bed, a shell, and a sleeping platform with lift up panels on a frame that allows you to access storage below the platform. You could then add cut in sidewall storage, then the Alaskan and/or TT in whatever order best meets your needs.
If you have enough money and prefer to start off with one of the other beds and the Alaskan, you might do that, foregoing a shell.
Though I am not fond of them, there also is the possibility of a traditional slide in truck camper or a pop up with tent siding as opposed to the Alaskan's hard siding.
My wife says whe would feel too claustrophobic in the Alaskan. She likes the Provan Tiger which has walk through and the cabin is always at full height, so we are saving for a down payment on that. I've learned-I listen now. Your fiancee might like the Alaskan. But whatever you do, get her the automatic, and make sure the other things are things she likes too. When Mama ain't happy, they ain't nobody happy.
