Set up a node! Bare boards that work with the app are like $50 and take a few clicks to flash and setup. The basic antenna with no amp makes contacts up to 50mi away if the conditions are right. I have one in a window and one in a backpack at all times.
It's insane how far you can go between hops, really most impressive. Where I live the mesh density is fairly high but I've also tried it in places where it was vanishingly low and yet I never completely lost contact. LoRa is very much an underappreciated technology.