I bought the vehicle at the start for $5k, then sold it at the end for $5k, so I don't count it as an expense. I drove it 40k miles and the vehicle cost nothing :)

I've met plenty of backpackers that travel the world for $10-$12k per year. Backpacking is cheaper than going with a vehicle if you are a single person, though a vehicle is cheaper as soon as there are two or more people, especially when you go to parts of the world where it's easy to camp out in the wild for free.