Make yourself interesting, so people want to meet you. It’s not a function of place or setting — you can start a conversation almost anywhere. It helps not to start from assumptions and judgments about how other people might “conform to a very rote/traditional lifestyle,” whatever that means, or about how great a conversationalist a stranger might be. The implication is that you consider yourself interesting, non-traditional and free from rote conformity, and a great conversationalist, which may come across to strangers as aloof, self-centered, and dismissive.

Common politeness generally means avoiding personal or possibly controversial topics with strangers, so you might have to invest the time to get to know someone.