https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/becoming-a-pilot-for-fun/msg1672153/#newExhibit A: You'll see me talk about the alternative solution to "being a pilot" via paragliding.
Yes, I do it. It's a fun hobby, but it's two fold. You both have to be very proficient on flying and small, high performance engines. If you are, great! If not, regular paragliding can be had if you live close enough to a mountain for ridge lift or the ocean to cruise dunes.
See the posted thread on my thoughts about safety. Bottom line, get proper training. Low and slow means nothing in aviation. In fact, that type of flying is significantly more dangerous due to your limited response time if something goes wrong before you hit the ground. It feels safer to humans because we are in a familiar environment, but it's frankly not compared to high altitude flying. With that said, a properly trained paraglider pilot zooming around on a nice morning or evening (if you don't know why the afternoon is dangerous, be sure to ask during your training) is much safer than blazing down the highway in a car. So take that for what it's worth.
On the boredom factor... eh, it depends. If you're new to aviation and/or motors, there is a ton of stuff going on to make this a great hobby! It really depends on your personality type. If you like tinkering and enjoy solitude, it's awesome just on its own. If you enjoy flying and you haven't done it much, it's great. Eventually you'll have enough flying experience that it gets a bit lonely up there and flying around the same rocks (your range per tank is about 30 miles round trip) gets boring. That's where joining a nice community that offers cross countries comes to play. Just like people who join biker gangs get together just for a fun trip, you'll find the same thing with paragliding since you can't really take your family or friends up for an outing. It's all about what you make of it really.
Grab the "Powered Paragliding Bible" by Jeff Goin. He's a rock in the community. I would say here to check the library, but frankly I doubt many libraries have a copy. It should give you a solid baseline on your knowledge. Also, Blackhawk paramotors (I'm not affiliated, I just trained with them) have some pretty awesome YouTube videos that help you simulate the experience and know what to expect. They're what I show my buddies when they ask, "What's it like?"
On the engine subject, which is half of powered paragliding, I've seen people ship their motors in to their distributors for repair and maintenance. Don't really understand it myself as the engines aren't that complicated, but that's always an option if you don't want to learn that half of it.
In the end, if you want to fly for real, this is the way to do it. I've tried many other solutions and in this present moment, Powered Paragliding is the most economical and advanced (safe) version you have for personal flight.