Of course I'm not saying that all GA pilots don't keep a weather eye out for handy fields.
Round here the "East Anglia Method" for PFLs almost always works:
(1) Set up a circuit.
(2) Look around.
(3) Work out which field you're going to end up in.
(4) Tell the instructor that was the one you were aiming at in the first place.
A slight mind set change is needed, and isn't necessarily always that easy to acquire, when flying in less hospitable territory. People whose initial training was on Vancouver Island are probably better at it.