Newbie - missing a key piece - some help required

[PAL (Peter)]

Hi there,

Newbie question - feel really dumb because I must be missing something fundamental here!

I think by explaining the following situation I will demonstrate my understanding gap…

I’m heading to Canberra in April - its a short trip, so perfect for my Life Admin System: 15.41 All Short Trips

So I create a new subfolder: 15.41 All Short Trips/2026-04 Canberra Trip. Then I file the PDF for the trip flights in this subfolder along with any other documents

Question 1: Do I enter anything in the Obsidian note “15.41 All Short Trips” in my JDex? If so, what?

• A one liner “2026-04 Trip to Canberra” +hyperlink to the subfolder ? or
• do I create a new note, say 15.41 2026-04 Canberra, and create a link to that note in the 15.41 All Short Trips note?

Question 2: If I have emails that relate to this trip - would I tag them in my email system? If so, with what tag? Just [15.41]? or [15.41 2026-04 Canberra]?

Question 3: Similar to Q2, if I have some physical documents that I don’t want to scan and store in the document folder (Say a certificate that relates to a person I am trying to locate when i get to the war memorial) - do I create a physical manilla folder in my filing cabinet with the label “15.41 2026-04 Canberra” or something else? Do I also update the Obsidian Note (but which one?) with this document reference and location?

Yep - definitely feeling like a nuff nuff now - hoping someone can put me right

Peter

[johnnydecimal (Johnny Noble)]

Firstly: we’re envious. We were just talking yesterday about how much we missed Canberra. Say hi to Braddon for us.

@PAL

Question 1: Do I enter anything in the Obsidian note “15.41 All Short Trips” in my JDex? If so, what?

It couldn’t hurt. Theoretically your JDex is the central point, the place where you start looking.

Now, in this case, you know where this trip is. It’s coming right up. And once done you’re unlikely to care again. So the likelihood of losing this thing is low. So you could get away without making a note.

But if you want to get into good habits: a one-liner wouldn’t hurt.

@PAL

Question 2: If I have emails that relate to this trip - would I tag them in my email system? If so, with what tag? Just [15.41]? or [15.41 2026-04 Canberra]?

I tend to subfolder per-trip:

15/
└── 15.41/
    ├── 2026-04 Canberra
    ├── 2026-05 Dubbo
    └── 2026-06 Orange

@PAL

Question 3: Similar to Q2, if I have some physical documents that I don’t want to scan and store in the document folder (Say a certificate that relates to a person I am trying to locate when i get to the war memorial) - do I create a physical manilla folder in my filing cabinet with the label “15.41 2026-04 Canberra” or something else?

Absolutely!

@PAL

Do I also update the Obsidian Note (but which one?) with this document reference and location?

This is where it’s really helpful to add a note to your JDex. Files and emails tend to be immediately obvious. Paperwork less so.

Hope that helps! Send us a photo when you’re there.

[PAL (Peter)]

Very helpful - thanks Johnny. Appreciate the fact that you took it as a genuine question!
I’ll doff my hat for you as we drive through Braddon Could even stop for a coffee - do you have a recommendation?

One follow-up if I may? It might sound pedantic but I really don’t want to find out later on that I was doing this in a way that is not going to be helpful or sustainable.

your reply to Q1 includes “But if you want to get into good habits: a one-liner wouldn’t hurt.” - are suggesting that a good habit in general is to

1. create an new entry in the “15.41 All Short Trips” note in the JDex (this could end up making this note quite a long one over a lifetime) or

2. create a separate note in my note app (Obsidian) for each trip? (if so do you file these notes in the JDex under the note or in a subfolder under “15.41 All Short Trips” or where?)
I think this is where I am confused - Is it the case that no new notes are created in the JDex as this Vault contains the JDex and only the JDex - i.e. it is not a place to store other notes? If “yes” then where do you store the other notes? If “no” then do you structure the folders in the vault to contain the JDex under one branch folder and then all related notes in folders outside the JDex?
something like … (wish I had the skills to create the cool layout you posted to show the subfolder layout!)

Vault Folders

Jdex/

00-09/

10-19 Life Admin/

etc

All Other Notes/

15.41/

— 2026-04 Canberra (note)

— 2026-05 Dubbo (note)

3. do something else - if so, what?

[johnnydecimal (Johnny Noble)]

@PAL

Could even stop for a coffee - do you have a recommendation?

Well it would have been my house! No longer, alas.

@PAL

are suggesting that a good habit in general is to

1. create an new entry in the “15.41 All Short Trips” note in the JDex (this could end up making this note quite a long one over a lifetime)

The point of the 15.41 All short trips entry was that, for this sort of trip, there’s usually not too much to remember. And that you might take many of them, so if we try to burden you with too much work, you’re likely to get sick of it and stop doing it.

So they should be ‘light-touch’. I tend to write in bullet points, and I think a bullet point in the JDex entry is probably enough here. That will serve as the anchor point, and give you something to search for in the future if you need it.

It occurs to me at this point to simply open my own 15.41 and see what’s in there!

I’ve used headers so they collapse easily.

Then, if needed, mimic those headers as folders in 15.41 in your filesystem.

@PAL

wish I had the skills to create the cool layout you posted to show the subfolder layout!

tree.nathanfriend.com is what you want!

[LucyDecimal (Lucy Butcher)]

Your post made me misty eyed for our old neighbourhood. Anzac Parade is one of my most favourites street in the world. Say hi to the memorial from me.