I have always been an introvert of sorts. Staying to myself does have its benefits (like no drama or trouble with anyone), however, it does have its drawbacks like loneliness and discomfort on certain things. It seems like there is not a lot of people that is into tickling for that matter.
Greetings and welcome from a fellow introvert.
Yes, being an introvert seem like an obstacle in life in general, and more so when one is required to put themselves out there in order to find those rare like minded individuals like them.
As you probably understand, I am not one to give any advice about how to meet new people
But you give very good advice, even if indirectly. Putting oneself "out there" is tremendously tough for us introverts, and even more so for those of us who are excessively shy too (contrary to popular perception, shyness and introversion are
not the same things and don't necessarily accompany each other). Yet in my experience, dragging myself to a real-life munch or gathering, no matter how much the very thought triggers a panic attack in me that makes me want to flee to the hills (going to an event next weekend, in fact, and I'm already hyperventilating) is simply the most promising way to truly connect with other fetishists. The great leap forward represented by the online world is all well and good and often works, but I really believe most people, even young 'uns, use the various social media tools haphazardly and inefficiently and there's still just no substitute for in-person interaction, with all due respect to Skype and Snapchat.
To wit:
I, too, suspect that a tickling fetish - is more prevalent then it seems, and that many people are in the closet about it
Agreed; in our time it still seems more acceptable to come out as a general BDSMer or a spanking aficionado rather than a fan of tickling, sexual or even not. And not only do I think you're right about our fetish having a great silent majority, but my guess is that a very small percentage of our fellows and fellowesses have actually even discovered these marvelous online watering holes like the TMF and FetLife.
I have noticed tickling as a fetish more popularized in other areas of the country (like New York)
The dastardly ambiguity of the name
New York again. As most people think of when they hear it, you probably meant New York City and its environs, and certainly there's a lot of activity, so it appears, of our kind there as one would expect for such a megalopolis. But N.Y.
State proper contains vast reaches of rural, remote and underpopulated areas like where I grew up and scattered, moderately-sized "cities" such as the one I currently call home. Consequently, even a shut-in like me is aware of dearth of overt and probably covert ticklephiles here Upstate, though as I understand it there is some life around the Buffalo area and a fairly vibrant community used to exist around Albany and Saratoga Springs (formerly the locus of
annual Super Bowl-time gatherings).