I have been stuck living in this insular, parochial, tiny, country town for almost 10 years, and region for about 15 years. I've a got a few friends that I hardly see. Make that 1 friend now, because the others recently got into trouble with the law for doing something stupid, and they are people who've worked as first responders who should definitely know better. So, 1 friend I hardly see.
Basically, most people who are not "locals" who've moved here from elsewhere, realise that tiny, country towns can be closed off to outsiders. However, there are ways to break through that wall. You take drugs and drink yourselves silly everyday, spending all day, everyday, completely blazed; you join committees and suck up to the "locals", feeling grateful if they throw you a crumb, like some kind of sycophant (and local police are mostly born and bred here too, also on committees in their spare time); you join a clique, then spend your days making up stories about the other cliques and spreading vile rumours. I'd rather sit through 10 hours of bad movies on Tubi than run other people down for my own entertainment, given a choice. I refuse to lower myself, so I'm on the outer.
I wish I could move back to the city, though, I'd miss the kangaroos and the kookaburras, because this town is painful. I drive to other places for entertainment and socialising because this town, and 90% of this shire, completely sucks. I've lived in a number of rural areas around Australia and this one is the worst. Can't afford to move, though.
Also, when I became a carer for my terminally ill mother, most of my old "friends" abandoned me. Death and cancer just saw people disappearing rather than support me. So many people have let me down. I'm 49 years old now. People suck.