>>3444359I feel your pain. Sometimes nothing interesting happens. It's just what it is. I also don't have the modern, dense cities known for street photography around here so I've had to adapt what street photog looks like.
When nothing's happening, I suggest you take photos of the remnants of people. That's street photography too... the effect of people on our world.
As for getting close, whenever you're about to take a photo, take it, then move one step forward and take it again. It gets easier with time and you'll start realizing it's okay to get closer.