I love flying. My dad actually got his recreational pilot's license before he got his driver's license, and he told me that during high school, he would literally take each paycheck and buy a tank of gas for his car and then drive to the airport and rent a little Cessna for an hour. My first experience in a plane was as a 3-4 year old in one of those little Cessnas with my dad as the pilot. I've flown with him probably 5-10x, but he hasn't maintained his pilot's license for probably 15 years or so. He actually let his license expire for a long time, then his sister passed away and in her will she stated she wanted to be cremated with her ashes spread along the Rio Grande river - so my dad reactivated his license so he could fly down to the US-Mexico border and spread her ashes over the river. I remember as a kid he bought a kit plane, but only finished building about 50% of it. He rented out a hangar at the Springfield MO airport for years where he would slowly work on it for an hour or two each week one night after work. It was a
BD-5, designed by legendary pilot Jack Bede. A really neat little single-passenger plane that used a small two-cycle engine about the size of a riding lawnmower.

My first commercial flight was back in like 1988 or 1989 when we flew to LAX for a family reunion when I was like 5 or 6.
Growing up, I had the luxury of being in a family that loved to travel, whether by driving or flying, and we went somewhere almost every summer. One year we drove to Orlando to hit all the amusement parks. We drove west to Vegas and LA one year. We flew to Hawai'i one year, to Aruba for my sister's HS graduation gift, and to the Bahamas for my HS graduation gift.
I've never flown across the ocean to either Europe or Asia/Australia, but have flown a ton throughout the US and to the Caribbean several times. Flown in to Canada a few times. Flown to Hawai'i twice. We have several trips planned over the next few years that will take us to South America, Asia, and Europe.
As far as hub airports go, my local one now (MSP) is my favorite. It is absolutely monstrous, but it is pretty efficiently laid out. The tram only hits the major concourse though, so you may have a super long walk from your gate to baggage claim if your plane lands at one of the outer terminals.
I fly through ATL frequently, and don't get the hate. Considering it is by FAR the busiest airport in the world by annual total passenger output, it's damn efficient.
I avoid ORD (O'Hare) and DFW like the plague. I don't care if I'm flying for business or pleasure, I will go out of my way and pay extra to avoid those two airports. I've had more bad experiences than I'll ever care to admit from those two hell holes. Luckily both cities have a secondary airport that's not too bad to fly into. I'm also a Delta loyalist, so luckily those two airports are hubs for other airlines so I don't often have a flight that is routed through them in the first place.
Yes, MCO (Orlando) is a royal PITA, and yes it is because of the influx of tourists. The airport is currently serving something crazy like 3x or 4x the max capacity it was designed for. They're adding stuff, but it's very slow going.
The best thing I've found to survive airports are lounges. Free food/booze/wifi and a much quieter relaxed atmosphere. Nicer lounges have private showers you can use, and some have massages you can book as well. I've even found a couple with "nap suites" you can book for an hour or two to really decompress and relax. Most lounges are free just for possessing the right airline/travel credit card - if not, they usually sell a day pass for anywhere from $30 to $50. Depending on your length of time at the airport, you may spend that much at a bar or restaurant eating/drinking, so why not also avoid the crowds/noise instead?