rather than setting up a multisig, would it be good to split my seed words into two remote locations? or is this idea flawed in some way?
Imo, I don't think that it is a good idea to try out such a thing. The reason is very simple, if you happen to lose one part of the seed, which is 6 out of the 12 words, there is already a big problem, and brute forcing might literally not be a resort, so I would advise that you kill such an idea.
Since your method of storage is based on physical storage, I would advise that you duplicate the complete 12 words. You can split those duplicate in different locations that are still within, like very very close. The idea of duplicate is a bit dangerous if you are attempting to keep the duplicate in different environment that might have vulnerabilities. I believe you understand the danger of what will happen when someone else that understands what seed phrase is use for, comes across it.