Between her acting career and her son Wolfie's life on the road as a guitarist with Van Halen, Rachael's buddy Valerie Bertinelli is often in a different city than her family. But she still talks with them every day thanks to technology and some planning. Here are her tips to make the road a little less lonely.

Travel with your favorite things. For Valerie it's hot sauce to top off meals, her cell phone and laptop computer. "The great thing about living in this day and age is we have texting," she explains. "We text each other every day when we can't actually speak." She also uses iChat for video phone calls on the computer. And, she notes you don't have to be a technological wizard to get comfortable with this gadget. "Hey if I can do it, anyone can do it."

Get mementos from your loved ones. Valerie says another thing you can to do make it feel like home in a hotel room, or in her case a Winnebago on her set, is to get some notes from your family. Her bofyriend Tom visited her on the road and left some of his wishes behind. "He left the 'I love you' note right under the olive jar ... he knows me so well. He knows that's the first thing I'm going for when I get back to my room."

Keep your spirits up with an exercise routine. "I try to get as much exercise in as possible otherwise I get really, really rundown and tired," Valerie says. "I find if I can get to the gym or at least take a brisk walk outside and get to know the area ... it really helps."

Fight the lonely blues with a new temporary home for meals. Valerie says it makes her feel more at home to scout out a cozy restaurant. "There's a lot of people that like to be regulars in places. So you go and you meet the regulars and you hang out with them and you feel like you're at home."

Pamper yourself. "I like to give myself a mini-facial," Valerie says. She recommends the facial from Cynthia Crawford's Meaningful Beauty Complete line. "It's so amazing. It's not expensive and I put this on for 20 minutes ... and it just gives you a rev up."