If it's any comfort, over forty years as a professional pilot I never experienced extreme turbulence and only a few times moderate to severe.
S1 had light/moderate most of the way back from NY last week; I guess they were on the edge of a jetstream where the eddies have the same effect as waves on a ship.
As has been pointed out by the erudite, the ITCZ is sometimes there and sometimes not in evidence - odd that.
As has also been noted, weather radar is essential to thread one's way through a line of cumulo-nimbus and is, in some cases, a no-go item if unserviceable.
If it does get a bit turbulent, always remember: people pay a lot of money for that kind of ride at Universal Studios and there you are getting it FOC
Yes, OK; didn't go down terribly well when I said it on an aeroplane either.