Think again on the earbuds – but not those lame, craptacular-sounding ones that come with the iPod. Instead, check out the “in ear” varieties. They sound soooo much better than the normal earbuds, and they do a pretty good job of eliminating external noise (without all that expensive Bose noise-cancelling technology). I guess this is because they snugly fit IN your ear, kinda like earplugs.
The cheap $40 ones that Apple makes are plenty good enough. Also, Sony makes some good ones. There’s also some far more expensive ones made by Shure. Try em!