Making More Memories with the ABC Challenge

At some point over the last few months, one thought became very clear to me: life does not automatically become fuller just because time passes. It becomes fuller through memories. Through things you do for the first time. Through moments that break out of routine and stay with you afterwards.

I realized that this is exactly what I want more of.

Not more appointments. Not more productivity. Not yet another system to optimize my daily life. More real experiences. More stories I will still remember in a few years. More moments that make my life feel bigger.

That is why I set myself a small challenge for 2026: for every letter of the alphabet, I want to do one activity that I have either never done before, or never done on my own before.

Not a perfect bucket list. Not a performance project. More like a gentle push toward life.

Why I love this challenge

What I like most about the ABC Challenge is that it is both concrete and open at the same time.

Concrete, because in the end there really are 26 letters. A year suddenly gets a shape. Open, because I do not have to force anything. The best ideas do not come from overplanning. They come from real curiosity, from conversations, from spontaneous moments, and from that feeling of: yes, I would love to experience that.

And that is exactly what happened over the last few months.

I went to a wine bar on my own and realized how beautiful independence can feel when it is not loneliness, but freedom. I took a sewing class. I co-hosted a K-pop quiz at the Grassi Museum. I went to a reading. I went to the book fair. And I planted flowers on my balcony, which may sound unspectacular on paper, but was still something I had genuinely never done before.

Not every one of these experiences was huge in the classic sense. But that is exactly the point for me. Memories do not only come from the big trips or the spectacular life events. They also come from these smaller firsts that shift something inside you.

What I especially love is how this challenge has changed my relationship with doing things alone. A few months ago, that still felt much more challenging. Now it is slowly becoming normal. Not as withdrawal, but as growing independence.

So for me, the ABC Challenge is not just a collection of activities. It is also visible proof that my life is not only made of routine.

What is already there, and what is still ahead

Some letters are already filled with real memories. Others are still ideas, plans, or small promises to myself.

That is one of the things I love most about this project: it holds the past and the future at the same time. One part says: look at what you have already experienced. The other asks: what are you excited for next?

That is what makes the project feel so alive to me. There are already beautiful memories in it, and at the same time things like Xanten, yoga, or paint by numbers are still waiting as future chapters. And honestly: I never would have gone to Xanten without this challenge. Partly because, yes, I really did not feel like doing Xylophone instead.

Why I built the ABC Challenge Tracker

Pretty quickly, it became obvious that I did not want to keep this challenge in some loose notes. I wanted something that makes progress visible at a glance. Something that does not feel like spreadsheet work, but like a place for experiences.

That is how my ABC Challenge Tracker came to life, and it now lives at abc.owlex.de.

The idea behind it is very simple: all 26 letters are visible immediately. For each letter, I can add notes, set a date, and attach images. So over time it becomes more than a list. It turns into a visual diary of small and big experiences.

The tracker is not just for me, either. I wanted to build something other people could use too if they felt like starting their own ABC Challenge. Something that keeps the barrier low and the fun at the center.

A few technical details

Technically, the app is intentionally small and direct.

It is built with React, TypeScript, and Vite. The data does not end up in some external database, but in each user’s own Google Drive. On top of that, there are a few practical things like notes, dates, image uploads, German and English, and an offline fallback for moments without a connection.

What I like about projects like this is when the technology is not the point, but supports the actual idea. In this case, not: “Look at this cool app.” But: “Look at how you can make memories visible.”

Conclusion

In the end, the ABC Challenge is not a self-optimization project for me. It is more like a reminder that a beautiful life does not just happen on its own. You have to move toward it a little.

And sometimes, all it takes is a single letter.