LAN parties are still a thing among tight-knit gaming communities where the personal relationships are strong.
For example, I still play Descent [0] competitively, along with perhaps a few hundred others off-and-on. There's a group of about 20 of us who have become really close friends in the last few years, and we try to have a big LAN party every summer. We've also had quite a few small get-togethers where a handful of people will fly or drive out for a weekend. Last month, a friend drove out from a couple states away, and joined my wife and I at my grandparent's old cabin, at 9200 feet in elevation, with no running water but with electricity, and we played a bunch of matches.
In the past, I've been to Descent LANs at such unusual locations as a hog farm and a Dominican monastery. My wife and I also took our laptops on our honeymoon and played Starcraft: Brood War in a tiny trailer next to a lake in northern Idaho.
I'm also a part of a small Christian gamers group [1], and there are regular discussions about who would be able to get together in various parts of the country this summer.
People are willing to travel to meet friends. Lugging along a computer isn't all that unusual.
[0] http://descentchampions.org/ is the competitive site
[1] http://www.solidrockgamers.com/
