I have been travelling this past couple of weeks. I have luckily been approached a few times. As a male, I can learn what made me feel comfortable and what didn't.

I was approached from behind by a girl who stared at me from the side as I was playing ping pong. I felt weird that a stranger was staring at me. So I turned and started back. She asked a question and me feeling uncomfortable I quickly answered and she stormed off feeling not validated by my actions. What I learned from that is approaching from behind and starting at that person makes them feel uncomfortable. Or at least me uncomfortable.

Five minutes later. Two girls come down excited to play ping pong. Say hi to everyone super friendly as they do it. Approach everyone with a smile direct and so they can see them. One of them asks who is winning and that started the conversation. We talked for a bit, they left after A short conversation, I had a great time!

TLDR learned from girls approaching me that being direct and friendly making it a much better approach.