One of the things I found to be such a gift in these on-line tickle fora is how common our experiences sometimes are. That said, I may be the worst of them all in suggesting how to introduce tickling into a relationship.
I've concluded in just the last couple of years that I could never have had a long term relationship with any woman unless she would at least allow me to indulge my passion for tickling even if it were not her favorite activity. Yet I can't say out loud anything with the word "tickle" in it if there is another human within hearing distance. I bet you could count on one hand the number of times I've said the word "tickle" even to my own tickle babe. The very thought of it (unless I sneak up on it) causes my tongue to go berserk. It just won't work. So I could never expalin it to a woman.
So, for me, the only thing that ever worked was simply to tickle whenever the context is right. I think over the years our (my) main boy-girl passtime for the evening has been dinner and a movie. Yet, we (I've) done lots of other stuff as well. My favorite sport is baseball and we've been to many many baseball games. We've been on bike hikes, camping trips, basketball games, drives in the country. We have tried to play tennis together and have bowled often. I love archeological and science museums and even occasionally go dancing although I may be the worst dancer in North America. I've tickled the wife to death perhaps a thousand times.
There may not be much in life more rewarding than getting to know, really know, another person. I found that when we do stuff together, there was always time for tickling. For one of we tickle people, it must start with that glorious tiny rib tickle while standing in line somewhere, or that pinch of the knee while waiting at a red light or that foot tickle while lying in the sun at the beach. From there it WILL escalate.
It has been my experience that women aren't as dumb as I look most of the time, and JoBelle I can surely relate to your tickle partner's eloquence. I carry my own personal "pop-up" wherever I go. Once we were sitting about our den, dressed down to the occasion, and I was painting the wife's toe nails, bright red of course. She started to giggle and said, "You have a foot fetish, don't you?" I'm sure I started to stutter and stammer and my ears started to burn. I managed to say, "Actually, I have sort of a tickle fetish." She replied, and I quote, "Duh!"
I will never be able to use the word "tickle" in public.