My first formal tickle session was decades ago. Think Dialup, think AOL messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and those Yahoo Groups.
I put out something in the Yahoo groups just saying that I really loved being tickled, and I wanted to find other people to chat with about it. I lived on the southern east coast and 2 men from the west coast answered me. Props to Bagelfather for being the first to respond. 🙂
It was Terorizer whom I connected to deeply. We chatted online, and then on the phone, and then finally, I flew to California to meet him. We met at a Marie Calendars. He had a red feather in his hand when I arrived. My laughter filled the restaurant. The connection we made through tickling was easy. The over 20-year close friendship we developed afterwards was life changing. Losing him still hurts beyond measure. However, I am so very grateful for our friendship. The only thing I regret is thinking that our time together would be 50, 60 years +.
Only travel was paid. I met him and went to my first gathering before he mentioned TMF. We were never romantic partners, but we were besties, and then finally I considered him closer than a brother.