If you are leaning toward drastic then consider that most of the frustration comes from the lack of control rather than the hardware itself. Debloating with ADB or using a custom ROM can get you most of the way without making the device unusable for travel. The other angle is to work within the existing OS by stripping permissions and redirecting defaults which can surprisingly reduce the noise without a full overhaul.
If you are leaning toward drastic then consider that most of the frustration comes from the lack of control rather than the hardware itself. Debloating with ADB or using a custom ROM can get you most of the way without making the device unusable for travel. The other angle is to work within the existing OS by stripping permissions and redirecting defaults which can surprisingly reduce the noise without a full overhaul.