How do you balance work and your significant other?

You aren’t “traveling for your career”; you are traveling for your job.. If you confuse your job with your career, and consider it that way when discussing it with your girlfriend, I can see her getting annoyed.

And if you were out for the evening and you had checked with your boss and all was well to go on the project until the morning, then you had no obligation to answer the phone. Being unavailable after getting okay to be unavailable will not go against you if your job is worth keeping.

I tend to one during the day while at work, and tend to the other when not on the block. Seems your trouble is you may need a new job where the boss doesn’t assume you’re on the clock 24/7. Work is what we do to pay a bill or two, and the rest of the time us called life. Those who confuse the two seem to not be happy in both.

If you make a commitment to go somewhere with your girlfriend, you need to honour it. However, if your boss had warned you that you might be needed, so you knew you were on call and you told your girlfriend this, then that’s just bad luck.

I actually put time in my calendar to spend with my family. I work way too many hours, so I make sure to allocate time to do things with the people I love. I understand you are ambitious and these are the early days in your career, but your family is important too. If you’ve made a commitment to your girlfriend, you may have to tell your boss you can’t be on call on occasion. I wouldn’t do it on a regular basis, but I also wouldn’t let your girlfriend down either. The only way to balance the two is to value and protect your family time. Work can quite easily take over.

Sometimes relationships have to be put on the back burner for work when it’s really important. Sometimes it’s just not optional. I’m “on call” 24–7 365. I had to go in once on christmas day. My wife has a hard time with this when it happens to me. She has a stressful job this does not help keep her calm. She has to “drop everything” for little emergencies at times too. We just don’t have kids. If they were in the picture we would probably be bad parents.

I tend to be in the same camp as @ARE_you_kidding_me. I spent most of my working life ‘On Call’ 24/7. Fortunately my wife was similar. We had to reschedule our wedding because her work interfered. I was on call during my honeymoon. If you want an 8–5 job that’s a choice you make. Careers and advancement usually go to those that put in the extra effort.

I was in a staff meeting one time and the VP asked about a project that was overdue. The manager in charge said that he would get a status report to him in the afternoon. The VP’s response was gruff but quite clear, He said “STATUS? I can get status for $4.50 and hour. You’re paid to make it happen.” They people that get the promotions aren’t the ones that have good explanations, they’re the ones that make it happen.

Your job , your livihood that provides means of support is first.
Without that you cannot support yourself nor your girfriends gifts!
Perhaps before you had spent a lot of time together and now while in this job you are taking steps to garner a better life not only for yourself but for your SO.
I would begin to spend less time with your girlfriend to set aside alone time as ecah should have their own interests/ hobbies etc while apart.
You do not have to spend every waking hour glued to a partner.
I would had encouraged your girlfriend to engage in activities of her own interests while away from you.
Surely she must have other interests ( Gym,painting,writing,coffee friends etc)?
If she does not have her own friends, interest to engage in while you are busy making a living, I would really wonder “why” you are expected to entertain her?
Time to grow up and be responsible for ones happiness before giving it ALL away.
Does she not work?

Work out what’s important. What do you want to put first? That being said, you want to train your boss that unless it’s going to cost you your job, you don’t roll that way that way things played out with the sports event. Being told you were in the clear and then yanked back, that would won’t do at all.
I don’t see my boyfriend but maybe twice a year. Yes, that’s YEAR. I don’t have energy for someone after me all the time to spend every waking moment with them and lose precious sleep because they want to talk. My plate is full enough and it’s all I can manage now. It is about priorities and commitments already made.