For Steph Hon, good design is about removing friction from everyday life—an idea that becomes all the more important when she’s on the move. As the founder and CEO of Cadence, the design company known for its innovative approach to organization, she has built a business around finding smarter solutions to everyday problems.
Naturally, that same design-minded approach shapes the way Steph travels. She gravitates toward items that are useful, beautifully designed, and deserving of precious suitcase space. There’s little room for anything extraneous: everything she brings along has to earn its keep, whether it makes a long flight more comfortable, helps maintain her routine on the road, or simply makes the journey feel a bit more effortless.
From clever organizational must-haves to the personal comforts she never leaves behind, Steph shares the travel essentials that go wherever she does:
Cadence Capsules:
I have a set of 23 capsules to hold and protect my skincare, supplements, and haircare. I’m not someone who’s ever going to use hotel products or buy mini travel sizes, so having my own things with me isn’t a preference! They stay packed and ready, which means leaving the house doesn’t come with a mental checklist – or the low-grade worry that something’s going to leak. And they look beautiful wherever I set them down, whether that’s a hotel bathroom, the gym, or my office. Mostly what they do is create space in my mind.
SHOP: Starting at $15; keepyourcadence.com
Cadence Parcel System:
Mine are always packed: an emergency bag, a tech bag, and a TSA liquids carryall. They double as a magnetic tray, so I arrive somewhere and I’m immediately put together. They live on my bedroom countertop, and when I walk out the door I don’t run through a packing list, because I already know everything’s in there. The material is thick and beautiful, but I can see straight through to everything inside, so nothing ever disappears. (I promise I am not biased – while I founded the company I truly live and breathe my products – Cadence was founded because of a pain point and belief the world deserves better products – not a big to make money). The real benefit is that it’s a system, and it can be reconfigured to fit whatever your life looks like at that moment.
SHOP: Starting at $55; keepyourcadence.com
Rimowa Luggage:
As functional as it is beautiful. The internal compression system genuinely maximizes what you can fit, and I recently learned their packing method—everything laid flat rather than rolled—which has made a real difference. I’m an over packer and a type B packer, and I appreciate any system that lets me bring the most possible with me.
rimowa.com
Tibi Pants:
I follow the Creative Pragmatist methodology that Amy Smilovic, Tibi’s founder, developed, pretty religiously. It sounds unhinged, but I’ll actually ask Claude or ChatGPT for feedback on my outfits, and over time a pattern emerged: my Tibi pants are the perfect travel pants because the pants themselves are modular. They work for dinner, they work for a work event, and they dress up or down entirely on the strength of a shoe or a sock. It’s such an incredible object, and I admire what that brand does deeply.
tibi.com
COS Track Suit:
Having a designated plane outfit is one of the most useful things I’ve done for myself. The plane is where form and function have to coexist most completely, and COS is where I always find that. Comfortable, but sleek and put-together. And then I follow the Tibi methodology and add a trench—mine’s from The Frankie Shop—which does the work of dressing up a tracksuit and sneakers.
cos.com
