almost always a TV or monitor at the destination

Perhaps if you always stay at hotels, but if you usually stay with family or friends, your options will be quite limited. It's also obviously not available in transit (airplanes, trains, etc). I almost never stay in a hotel room for more than an hour or two (aside from sleeping), because I'm either on location or staying with friends/family.

So I honestly never had a situation where I could've gotten away without a laptop. Then again, the nature of my work requires a lot of typing, so YMMV.

And yeah, a gaming laptop is a nonstarter for me. It's too bulky, tends to have crappy battery life, and the ergonomics of actually playing suck. So that's why I bring a thin-ish laptop and a Steam Deck, the laptop slips in my bag for the day's work, and the Steam Deck stays in my room for games later (sometimes I sneak it in my bag if I know there will be downtime).

That said, if I'm traveling, I'm not working in an office, it'll be at a conference desk or a family member's house, and it's really hit or miss what amenities I'll have access to.