Could you pull a 1K pound wagon full of animals across SC? Meet Ezer Way, who lives a nomadic life

The South Carolina Highway Patrol stopped a woman with her 10-foot-long wagon and collection of animals for walking on the highway on Tuesday.

The self-described “sustainable nomadic traveler,” Ezer Way, stopped to fix the wheel of her human-pulled wagon on the side of Highway 17 in Murrells Inlet by the Inlet Square Mall. A South Carolina Highway Patrol officer approached her and her 30 animals.

“They did tell me that if I continued on the road at this point on Route 17, that they would impound my wagon, basically, and take the animals and I would probably go to jail,” Way said.

S.C. Highway Patrol spokesperson, corporal David Jones, said Way received a warning because she was considered a pedestrian on the highway, which is prohibited. This is because she pulls her wagon, instead of it being pulled by an animal.

“If she was pulling or pushing it, it would be extremely dangerous, especially on Highway 17,” Jones said.

He added that highway patrol officers regularly warn people walking on the sides of highways.

“Honestly, I’m less likely to get hit because people don’t see me every day,” Way said.

Way said she traveled through the Myrtle Beach area without issue two years ago with a smaller wagon.

“I really haven’t had altercations with police enforcement before,” she said.

Way, her animals and her wagon were transported to the Murrells Inlet area earlier this week after a five-month stay in Aquadale, North Carolina.

Way began traveling full time in September of 2020, setting off from southern Missouri. She pulls her 10 foot long wagon, which weighs up to a 1,000 pounds.

Way has accumulated around 30 animals, including sheep, chickens, dogs, quails, rabbits, a goat, a calf and a rat. The smaller animals ride on the wagon, while the larger ones walk beside the wagon, around 2 to 5 miles a day.

She’s walked throughout the southeast United States, from Kentucky to Virginia and Florida, among others.

“Over time it’s become more and more of a mission to show people sustainable living practices while living in a more Christ-like manner,” Way said, who describes her faith as close to Anabaptist.

“I’ve had people come up to me crying, bawling, like I can’t even explain it. Some of the experiences I’ve had with people and what they see, sometimes I don’t see it. Cause I’m me, you know,” she said.

Way supports herself and the animals through donations and by selling jewelry and other crafts. A GoFundMe has raised over $1,000 in a day.

Currently, Way is looking for a Murrells Inlet or Pawleys Island farm to stay at.

“I gotta decide, find out if I can continue my journey through South Carolina, if I have to go a different direction,” she said.