Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler's relationship secrets

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Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler rely on FaceTime to keep their relationship strong.

The couple - who have been together for eight years - are often separated for work but Vanessa, 31, revealed she and Austin, 28, rely on technology to keep in touch.

She told the February issue of Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine: "It's eight years this year - FaceTime, good communication, respect and trust [are what keep us going]. The longest we've been apart was four months. It sucks! You start hating hearing yourself say 'I miss you.' But if it's your person, you make it work.

"I know the things that matter the most - I do love my job, but my job isn't everything. My family is - my partner and my friends are the things that keep me grounded."

Before she started seeing Austin, Vanessa previously dated her 'High School Musical' co-star Zac Efron and revealed she still has the necklace his character Troy presented to her alter-ego Gabriella.

She said: "I feel like I need to sell it for charity because it's literally sitting in a little bag rusting!"

Vanessa also explained that she stays grounded by surrounding herself with good people.

She said: "I think you become who you surround yourself with, so I think it's really important to have a group of friends that reflects the type of person you want to be. I've never been one for LA clubs. I actually despise [them] - I love a good rave. I'm like, take me to New York or Berlin and put me underground in a warehouse with lasers and smoke machines and I'll be living my best life. That's something that makes me who I am and allows my soul to flourish."

And the 'Princess Switch' star is excited about the year ahead.

She said: "To me, [New Year] is a time of rebirth and new beginnings. I feel like it's a time where I have a clean slate and have 365 days ahead of me that I can really be intentional with what I'm doing. I make a vision board every January 1st. I print out a bunch of photos, places I want to go to, how much money I want to save, what kind of films

I want to do, the people I want to work with, and then I put it up on my wall and see it every day and know what I'm working towards.

"I've done that for the past four years now, and it's pretty amazing how when you're extremely intentional about what you want and want to do, at the end of the year you end up checking off a lot of the things on your vision board. I also reward myself when I do get those things done. I'm a big advocate of patting yourself on the back. I look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Hey girl, you are crushing it.'"

Read the full interview in the February issue of Cosmopolitan, out now, or go to www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/vanessa-hudgens.