My experience is somewhat different from many ladies on his forum. I went full time the day I realized I was trans, and that was a year ago may 1st

I had always been so feminine and quite hated myself because of that for years trying to be a man. Anyway I started accepting my femininity and over the course of several months I realized what I was, and by the time I did I was already wearing women's clothing. I have lived my entire life forced out of the closet as a gender variant person, I suffered the fear of being seen as a freak, ->-bleeped-<-, dinner, loser etc when I was 11 years old. Living with that has been hard but ultimately made transition way easier.
When I went full time, of course I did not pass at all, maybe at a passing glance. It was intense, but I was so happy to have discovered who I was and to finally have a solution for my seemingly unsolvable dilemma that was life. I wasn't scared of the judgement, I had heard it All before. People respond very differently to trans people than feminine men. That's very true. And if you don't pass it's a big deal.
I live in NYC so that made it way easier. Depending where you live in the city, you can live safely as a non passing trans woman. I was happy that I was finally embracing myself and becoming who I was. I knew people would judge me either way, so why not be me.
I honestly never thought I would pass as a woman. I wanted to. But I didn't believed it was possible on hormones alone and wasn't willing to get facial surgery.
Three months into being FT I got on HRT. Still I didn't pass. But one day at 4 months on HRT...I was called she by a college advisor I'd never met.
From that day forward I have been properly gendered by everyone who did not know my prior to my transition. I know that my passing is a huge blessing of many factors, and confidence is a huge part of it. I am blessed with genes and age for sure, but if I embodied myself with less confidence, it wouldn't be inconceivable that passing on looks alone would be harder for me.
I know my story is different then most. But the take home message from my experience to yours might be to trust yourself despite the world, and that faith and honesty are gentle ways to be YOU functionally in the world.
I'm not suggesting you go FT. You'll go when you're ready. But know that this journey is unique to each of us who embark upon it. We don't jump into this at the end, we have to be carried along through the changes and in the process we learn more about who we are than we did when we began. That is the hero's story, and our conviction is revealed as we travel.
Good luck and keep sharing. At 8 months on hormones and 1 year into my transition, I must say that I miss nothing about that shadow of manhood that I desperately scrounged for in fear.
x Di