Your experience in rural areas differs quite extremely from those I have had. In particular living in rural areas basically forces one to have hobbies. Even in the most rural areas of areas I found people whose interests included astronomy, plenty of guys into computing stuff, radio/ham culture, taxonomy, and so on endlessly. Incidentally the guy who was huge into astronomy, with an educational background in it on top, was also a biker who was built like a tank and tatted from (nearly) head to toe. Of course there were also plenty of people whose hobby was 'drink self into stupor and watch TV' but they were not the rule.
It's also way easier to meet people in rural areas because you see the same people regularly, and a friendly chat at the local convenience mart is pretty normal, as opposed to the instinct you get in cities where if somebody is actively seeking you out to chat, then he's probably either a weirdo or looking to scam you or, equivalently, sell you something. The same instinct that makes it difficult for you to approach people to chat.
It's also way easier to meet people in rural areas because you see the same people regularly, and a friendly chat at the local convenience mart is pretty normal, as opposed to the instinct you get in cities where if somebody is actively seeking you out to chat, then he's probably either a weirdo or looking to scam you or, equivalently, sell you something. The same instinct that makes it difficult for you to approach people to chat.