Leave the party while it’s still fun. The last hour is where the bad stories come from.

Knowing when to stop is a separate skill from knowing how to start, and almost nobody practices it. Most things have a peak and then a decline, and staying past it turns a good night into the version you would rather not remember. The best exit happens while you still want to stay.

Decide your leaving time before you arrive, and tell one person so it is real. Go while you are still enjoying it, even when it feels early. You will keep the whole evening as the good thing it actually was.