I worked for a mid-size tech company for many years and did a lot of travel (not as a developer). Sure I'd check email and maybe do some writing. But, while I liked having a halfway comfortable chair, I was pretty much content to work with my laptop on my lap if that were the only option. I wasn't great at focusing on writing an article for one of our in-house pubs say, but that had very little to do with work amenities and more with the fact that I traveling to attend an event etc. so I had a lot of distractions.

(For an extended trip to a single location where I was only intermittently at a customer etc., maybe I'd consider asking for a co-working space but I never did and don't think I'd have gone to the trouble.)