I have had that funny thing with flying love-hate too!
My dad was flying small private planes as a hobby when I was young, so first I went on a plane I was 6 months I believe and it was with mum and dad. Then I have been countless time with my dad and didn't necessarily enjoy it because my ears were poping etc. (just a whinging kid really) - at the time I didn't realise how lucky I was to be able to observe things from the sky!
And then when we started traveling, I flew to many countries in big places (whaoo)...And I wasn't bothered by it - Now flying is what I hate the most about the trip.
It's often a 24h flight to go and see the family...and each bump on the plane is a big freakout for me! I squeeze Guilly's arm and when I'm on my own I try to be a real adult...Why? I'm not sure, I think as a kid or when you are young you don't think about all the sh*t that could happen lol.
My secret sleep sleep sleep as much as I can and binge on movies so it goes faster or....the best I've found was doing travel video montage in the plane, I didn't see the 24h go!