I simply chickened out

[Lauren Richards]

Jenny,
You didn't chicken out.. because you are still an egg. Not ready yet. You've cracked the shell a bit (I know, I was there!), but not quite ready means not quite ready. Nothing wrong with following your basic instincts and backing out of a situation where you did not feel comfortable. As Sherry said.. "Maybe next time."

I think it would have been worse had you gone forward with misgivings and had a bad experience. It occurs to me that we put ourselves at risk when we ignore the inner voice. You will be ready when you are ready, and not a minute before. You'll know. Each experience teaches us valuable lessons, if we are open to the lessons. "Next time", when you are ready, will be the right time, and you will fly out the door. ..

Lauren

[Gardener]

Just a judgement call. An inner voice saying "not this, not now". We always need to listen.

[sometimes_miss]

Back when I was in my thirties, I took several business trips during which I brought along some girl clothes, thinking that after said business was completed, I would take an extra day and try my hand at going out dressed as a woman. Of course, the hotel had full length mirrors, and one glance told me it wasn't a good idea at all; I looked absolutely ridiculous. A six foot four, 250 pound, XXXL sized person trying to wear fashionable clothes designed for an attractive woman in her early twenties. Nope, no way.

[lucy_miller]

You wont feel free to go out until you have normalised the behaviour. Even then you may have a few wobbles. I mostly dress for days out when away from home and initially became happy to dress for dinner at a hotel, especially in the darker months, but wasn't happy with the thought of dressing for a day out with all of the unknowns. So i set myself a task of spending a full day outside dressed. To help myself though this crisis of confidence after dinner while away I put all my drab clothes in a bag and took them to the boot of my car which I'd parked at the far end of a hotel car park. In the morning I woke up in a room with only a dress, jacket and heeled shoes and had no way to back out of my plan. Needless to say the day was amazing but having no option other than face the day 'en femme' was all that got it started.

[Beverley Sims]

Did HM's three years ago expecting to meet some of the girls, walked in and unfortunately I got a terse reception from someone so I went and paid the Queen Mary a visit.

It was a long way to go and be there on the night only to walk out again.

[syome]

I can totally relate to your fear. I have been frozen many times, specially when going alone. I would say finding a group of people to go out with might help you out quite a bit AND it will also help you with learning tips and tricks for transformations.

I was in LA not long ago and met a group of crossdressing/transgender women who have outings fairly often. Going as part of a group really gave me some confidence and allowed to have a lot of fun without being so self conscious. There is a woman called Jill that runs a transformation service called Transglamtastic, I am not promoting the service one way or another but she is super friendly and often has group outings with transgender and crossdressing women. So you could contact her and see if you can join them for one of their outings, people usually meet at her house and then carpool, so you would be in a group from the beginning.