We had a 35' FW with two daughters which we enjoyed. They went out of town one weekend for a robotics competition and I snuck out to buy a used 4 year old Lance 815. I purchased it for solo trips as I was tired in making them in the back of my Grand Cherokee. Plus I was 4 wheelin at the time and needed a place to sleep when I hauled the jeep to the trails. My wife didn't wheel with me so couldn't get her to go on a trip but the teenage girls did. They finally wanted to just take a trip in the TC for a weekend where they stayed in a tent. Just a local trip 50 miles up the road but they enjoyed it. Then the daughters wanted to go on another one taking the kayaks to a nearby lake. Wife realized the TC wasn't that bad despite being small. Plus the girls were interested in horse so we weren't using the FW so I sold it will my wife realizing her trips would now be in a TC. I traveled mainly solor for the next two years until my oldest went to college and the youngest went started working. So then the wife decided to track a trip or two with me. Each time she went, she realized what I had known from camping in a TC as a kid. It was a different type of traveling where the entire journey was the adventure.
Now 10 years later, we wore out one truck and are about 2/3 through the second truck traveling around in the TC. Still on the same TC and it's worth more today than when I bought it. My wife loves it because of where we can go, always have everything with us. Last year to escape the heat, we headed north with no idea where we would end up. Turns out we made it all the way to Pictured Rocks National Seashore and then headed home when they called for snow.
Getting ready to retire next year and plan on making multi-month trips around the country. Neither wife nor I are looking at any thing other than TC.
So if you can afford it, go small and then try to convince your wife to take a trip of two with it. She may realize it isn't as bad as she thinks it would be.
