Maurita The Notary

Imagine paying zero dollars to live in a Costa Rican paradise 🌴. Across the country, hostels and eco lodges offer travelers free accommodation through work exchange platforms like Worldpackers and Workaway. In return for around 18 hours of work each week, volunteers get a bed and breakfast every single day. Tasks usually include reception duties, cleaning, gardening or helping in the kitchen.

This model lets young travelers explore expensive destinations on almost no budget while learning new skills and languages. Workaway connects volunteers with hosts in more than 170 countries worldwide 🌍. For many people stuck in office routines, this feels like real freedom, waking up to ocean air instead of alarm clocks. Would you trade a desk job for a life like this 🤔

Sources: Worldpackers, Workaway

A farming family’s 1999 donation of 87 acres intended for a free public park has instead become the site of a major data center after the city’s economic development arm sold the land for $10 million.

In July 1999, the Bland family transferred the property to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation for a nominal $10, with the deed noting it was to be held in trust for future parkland use.

The land later passed to Williamson County entities and then to the City of Taylor before being transferred in 2008 to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) for $15,000.

In April 2025, the TEDC sold the property to Blueprint Projects (BPP Projects LLC) for $10 million.

The developer is now building a 135,000-square-foot data center facility on the site, part of a larger project with a potential total investment of around $1 billion.

Longtime resident Pamela Griffin, whose home is approximately 500 feet from the site, has publicly opposed the project.

She and her family recall the land being used for baseball, camping, and community gatherings across generations, consistent with the original donation’s intent.

Griffin and others filed a lawsuit arguing the sale violated the parkland purpose; a trial court dismissed the case, and an appeal is pending.

City officials have noted that the property was later zoned for industrial and employment-center use, with the project expected to generate jobs and significant tax revenue.

Construction plans have now moved forward following planning and zoning approvals.

Wendell Pierce grew up in Pontchartrain Park, a middle-class Black neighbourhood in New Orleans. Katrina destroyed it.

Plenty of famous people from New Orleans raised money. Pierce did something considerably harder and much less photogenic: he helped form a community development corporation and got into the business of actually rebuilding houses, which takes years and permits and arguments.

Then he noticed the other problem. Whole stretches of the city had no grocery store. So he opened them - Sterling Farms and the smaller Sterling Express - in neighbourhoods the chains would not touch.

One of the store policies tells you everything. Spend $50 and you get a ride home. Because if you do not have a car, you cannot carry a week of groceries, so you buy less and worse.

Dreaming about building a barndominium? Start with the LAND. 🏡✨

Whether your future plans include a cozy barndo on a few acres or plenty of room for a home, shop, animals, and wide-open space, I can help you find the land to make it happen.

🌾 1 to 30+ acre options
📍 Lubbock, Amarillo & surrounding areas
💰 Prices starting at $29,900
🔑 Down payments starting at $999
🏡 Barndominiums welcome on select properties
💵 Owner financing available on select tracts

Buy the land now. Build your barndo when you’re ready. 🤎

📲 Message me for current locations, pricing & availability!
Morgan Masterson | 806-905-8554