My old Subaru had a feature that I'll miss 'til the end of my days. A hill-holder brake. When you braked and clutched, it would hold the brake until you released the clutch. Sweet.
But ... let's be honest. All you lack is practice. And as for comfort ... try this. In the wagon, on a quiet road, brake with the wrong foot. Odds are, you'll eat steering wheel the first time. It's all a matter of getting used to the feel. I spend most of my time hopping between my manual '91 Sonoma, a '93 Mirage, and a '97 transport minivan. I do it so much, that all three feel familiar now. But before, when 90% of my driving was the work truck (took it home during the week) and I only drove the car home on friday night and back on monday morning... it would take a minute or two to readjust.
That said, take the Maxima to a loading ramp, and without using the gas, practice with the clutch until you can just hold the car still at the friction point. I don't care how big the car is, or how puny the engine, you can do this in any manual car. Forward or backwards. With practice.
My uncle in Scotland was in the army. He told me about how they tested drivers for their heavy vehicle licenses. They'd take them to a hill, and make them stop half way up, and shut down the truck. Then they'd put a matchbox behind a wheel. They then had to start off again. Crush the box, you failed.
The final word on the matter is, of course, yours. But don't let silly things like driving hills and traffic scare you off. Sure, in traffic and hills, an automatic tranny is idiotproof. But you're not an idiot, and a manual box isn't rocket science. If you want to stay with the automatic, do it because you choose to do it, not because you think you have to.
