Next to my always-packed ready-to-toss-into-a-suitcase toiletry bag is another, more essential, sack 'o goodies – a pre-packed ready-to-toss-into-a-suitcase gadget travel case. Shampoo and razors can easily be replaced upon arrival, but these are the top gadgets you shouldn't be on the road without.
To listen to your music player in your rental car you can hope it's equipped with a headphone jack for a direct-to-the-stereo connection, or you'll need an FM transmitter. What's that? You connect your music player to the transmitter, and it transits the music from your music player through the car radio via an open FM frequency. The best FM transmitters offer frequencies out to the outer fringes, from 88.1 all the way out to 107.9, which are most likely to be vacant (or nearly), even in New York and LA. The TransDock in the photo is an old one for the classic iPod, but the company sells a wide variety of FM transmitter models. The iPhone TransDock micro sells for $70.