I don't think I ever really felt alone in terms of having this fetish... I'd always felt very positive about it and knew there was something about tickling that I liked from a very young age, but wasn't necessarily bothered if it was an interest I shared with others or not... I never felt any guilt or concern about having the fetish, in some ways I liked the idea that this was something that only I knew about - nobody else I knew had discovered how amazing tickling was... so when I discovered TMF (through the usual search engine channels, Ask Jeeves in those days!) I didn't feel any relief or have any moment where it made sense suddenly, it was more akin to the kind of excitement I felt as a kid when walking into a vintage car museum or the Pizza Hut, suddenly my world was full of something that I was really keen on!
What finding the TMF DID do though was basically introduce me to sexual stuff. I'd only ever really felt romantic attraction and affection before that. I'd no interest in porn and not really much of an idea why my penis would grow if I was exposed to tickling (or indeed feet/shoeplay)!
However, I certainly think that without the TMF I'd have experienced a sense of being alone later in my life (ie during my late teens/early twenties) because I'd have really struggled to separate tickling from sex and to manage the urge to tickle alongside other aspects of forming an intimate relationship with someone. I wouldn't have known where to look for help in understanding the fetish as I'd have had nobody else to identify with or to bounce ideas/thoughts/experiences off.
Cheers
TTG