Ahh let's see. First off, I'm 24, live in the US, and am a fan of alcohol, in general~
I never drank until it became legal to do so at 21. Partially because I don't make a habit of doing illegal things if I can help it, and partially because my parents were both pretty annoying while drunk, so I didn't really feel compelled to mess around with it until I was older/more mature anyways.
On hangovers: I conveniently never really get them unless I drink way way wayyyyyy too much. Like a lot of people I know will experience at least minor hang over symptoms after most instances of drinking, be it a headache the next day or worse. I'm typically fine unless I'm to the point of throwing up & etc., in which case I have all of the other hangover symptoms as well. Not entirely why that is.
On getting "drunk" vs. "Tipsy" or wev: generally speaking I have a preconceived notion of how much I'm going to drink depending on the occasion.
- Like with a meal out, I'll have 1-2 drinks max (typically not enough to even get me tipsy, this is just for taste~),
- casually hanging out with friends is like probably a drink an hour or so (can maintain a pretty good tipsy feeling, but without getting "drunk", and should be okay to drive at the end of the night, so long as I stop a few hours early)
- at a party, it varies. I might have a beer or glass of wine in hand that I refill as I drink through it, but may get invited to do shots or taste other people's drinks (NOTE! this is only at parties with people I completely trust. never ever take sips off of random people's drinks at a large party... safety first!) And these are often the times I get "drunk". It's not really much different than "tipsy" in my experience, just "more".
I guess my number 1 tip for not getting ill is just not to mix different types of alcohol too much. Most of my "get sick/hungover" experiences came from drinking too many different things in a night. Although sheer quantity will do it too... I had an unfortunate experience with "Drunk Jenga" at one party >.> Each time is a learning experience though, I get to that point less and less each year lol
On what I drink: I used to be all about red wine, particularly merlots. Now I drink a lot of IPA beers though as my go-to. Never liked most mixed drinks much, a lot of them are simply too sweet for me to find enjoyable :X I do like some though, like Moscow Mules. And especially I don't trust anything most of my friends mix. I do have one dude I hang out with sometimes who used to bartend, so I totally drink whatever he makes at parties xD
On when I drink: almost exclusively socially. I genuinely don't like drinking by myself, because I don't see the point. Where as it loosens me up to interact with other people better in a social setting, when I don't have people to talk to it just makes me sleepy, so unlike some folks who I've heard will have a drink before drawing or something, doesn't work for me xD I'll just play a game for a while then sleep early, usually. I'll raaaaaaarely do that anyways, but not too often.