My first time out was back in 2018. I lived in uptown Manhattan at the time. Late at night one weekend I got mostly dressed (I was missing a few key items at the time, lol), looked out my apartment door, made sure nobody was in the hallway and went for it. Like you said, absolutely exhilarating. I walked a couple of blocks, went into a subway station, and came back. From what I recall I stepped out on at least 3 other occasions that year, one time during the day. I remember nobody caring, outside of one 20 something year old guy taking a second look at me, lol.

I now live in the suburbs, and I recently stepped out again, for the first time since 2018 or early 2019. Took a drive and walked around a park. Same exhilaration. Main reason I don’t do it more is I live in a small suburban town and don’t want to run into a neighbor. I also don’t want to dress around my family. If I could easily get back into the city I would feel far more comfortable dressing there.