Awesome awesome awesome suggestions, and really cool to see and hear some of the setups. That Scamp setup is pretty nice and could be what happens to us once we leave Alaska someday(I've got some land in Arkansas with a cabin-in-progress)
Anyway, let me address some things that were said suggested.
As much as I'd love to build a teardrop(I'd probably build something boxier) I don't really have the weather. Huh? No garage, and during the warmer months I get sent to the far reaches of Alaska on field projects.
I SHOULD be happy just dealing with a tent, I've done it a lot, but this little camper setup would mostly be for sight seeing the "settled" places of Alaska. I like the ability to quasi-stealth camp in pull offs and decent parking lots on the edges of the small towns up here. Hopping out and throwing up a tent just doesn't feel right. And if we want the "real camping experience" we just throw on our bags and disappear into the wilderness for a few days.
I've done the truck bed camper for about a month out in the desert when my tent was destroyed by high winds in Utah...I like the idea of a comfortable interior, something with some slight insulation and possible climate control.
Right now I've shifted away from the van idea and back to a Prius. I never did read the Prius article that MMM wrote until after my first post and I noticed it was right after the "10 best cars". It didn't really give me new information, but it did cause me to take a second look.
After some research, the Prius seems to have some extremely good reliability. Yes, you pay a decent premium for that battery/hybrid setup. But it allows you some interesting flexibility. I think that's sort of the best selling point for this car. Yes, two people can camp in it comfortably(with a nice window looking up at the stars, room for fullsize mattress+other items, and the ability to leave the AC on overnight<--this is really neat). But it also allows for a flexible future. If I make the assumption that we hold onto this car for many years, it allows for flexibility. If we add another 100k to the vehicle, then that gas mileage looks a lot sexier (about $6k sexier vs another hatchback). If someone ends up changing jobs and has to commute to the other side of town--that mpg looks better. If we end up using it in town much more than I'm estimating--mpg looks better. Gas shoots through the roof in 2016--mpg looks better. We wouldn't fear budgeting for much longer road trips(Week long road trip to Chena Hotsprings anyone?). Also, if we were to leave Alaska sooner than planned, this car allows us flexibility for how we setup for the next step in our lives.
So 1) It's functional...enough. 2) It's versatile for the future.
Plus, there's actually a few of them on Craigslist. And with gas down right now, demand for these things should be lower.
This is probably my favorite display of a simple easy setup...and the video isn't too long:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XAlMhiemU