I think you should just go for it - many gliding clubs have introductory or passenger flight options. I flew gliders for a few years and it's really wonderful - it's very quiet and the view is fantastic. Landing is suprisingly easy most of the time - when people fly "cross-country" (long distances, away from airfields) it's actually common procedure to "land out". Which is basically the same as an emergency landing (e.g. in a farmer's field) but much less stressful because gliders are actually designed to fly well without a functioning engine.