Man, I don't want to stir anything up here, but I just hate it when people think choosing paragliding over hang gliding is all about instant gratification. Learning to thermal and keep your paraglider wing open is a skill that takes a lot of time and patience to develop. The real appeal to me that made me choose paragliders over hang gliders is the portability and ability to hike up a mountain and fly off it. And the ability to travel with it. I'd love to hang glide, and I wouldn't have minded spending the extra time to learn it, it's just not portable enough for me. Although now that I've developed my flying skills and understand how the respective aircraft work more, I might someday branch out and embrace the rigid wing just because I'd really love to fly more than 100 miles.