I am curious about the profile of the average kitesurfer using this forum.
For myself, I windsurfed for 20 years before starting to kite. For that period I lived & breathed to windsurf: watched the weather every day, adjusted my work & play schedule accordingly & traveled around the world to windsurf. Abandoning windsurfing has left a weird hole in my psyche - it was who I was for 20 years!
Kiting is of course, a natural extension of windsurfing: many of the skills & all the weather savy I learned have translated into kiting. But I wonder how many kitersurfers have come to the sport without a windsurfing background? I have occasionally met guys on the beach learning to kite who have NO understanding of the wind at all - onshore/offshore/isobars/wind strength etc. - & it amazes me.
Number one advantage of kiting: the transportability of the gear. Number two; the ability to have fun & boost in 10 to 15 knots. These two factors open up endless destinations to kiting.
However, many of the special destinations for windsurfing make less sense for kiting: eg. Maui (which is the most amazing place to windsurf - but makes less sense as a kite destination) the Gorge, even Cabarete (the reef is the big draw for windsurfing).
When you tell people you're a kitesurfer, they just look at you blankly - how can you explain it to someone who has not seen the sport?!