What really caught me about flying is the playing in and with nature. We have all learned through our flying education how warm air will eventually rise as a thermal, but to actually find this rising air and use it to go right up to cloud base is simply addictive.

To combine more thermals in one flight, to fly to the next expected trigger point and actually find lift, then use this lift to go further still; this is in my mind truly awe-inspiring. Whenever this happens, when my theories prove themselves in real life I feel particularly alive and fortunate. So gliding towards a specific point on a hill and actually finding lift there is exhilarating every time. What it does for me is to prove that my understanding of nature is continually improving.

Burkhard Martens, "Thermal Flying for Paraglider and Hangglider Pilots"