The locale is not important.

The important thing is that it's time that is literally impossible to re-allocate to either housework or work-work.

Any makeshift substitute won't have that property, and you'll be pressured to skip it in order to do more housework or more work-work.

I disagree. It's just a matter of habit. I spend 30 min doing some language learning exercises every day and have broken my "streak" maybe 10 times over 2 years. Missing out on 10 days is insignificant. There have been weeks where I felt like I should quit. Reading a book sounds relaxing compared to that.