How to Backup geth wallet?

I've been reading every here and there, and while this https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/428ypp/how_to_restore_geth_account_with_keystore_backup/ provided some information, it wasn't really complete

It says that to import a key it was to be unencrypted, but I think the UTC–20xx-xx-xx-etc files are encrypted.

I don't remember my recovery/secret phrase.

Should I create a new wallet, make sure I remember the recovery/secret phrase, and then backup that one instead? Then which files do I save, and how do I get them unencrypted so that I can import them again?