> As for Reticulum, I don't see it competing in the same category at all.

Indeed, but when talking to friends who find Meshtastic / Meshcore interesting we often also talk about Reticulum as it has some overlaps and is an interesting project.

Seems like Meshtastic could be replaced by something like BitChat (no hardware needed) for smaller groups and adhoc use (like the example you give of a group on a trip)

If you are going to have the setup and work of repeater nodes though doesnt something that gives actual network use between devices make more sense?