My father travelled around the world in the early 80's and concluded that there is no place like the US and came home.
One of my questions is have things changed? Has the rest of the world improved and the US declined in the last thirty years?
You are right, I will have to go and find out for myself.
Actually, I believe is to be the case. As late as the early to mid-90s, I'd say there was no place like the US of A (even though the Nordic countries were very nice also then, they were behind on certain aspects). Today US has noticeably declined (compared to some world benchmark, at least) while some countries have clearly progressed - the Nordic countries very much so. Visit the new Old World, with open and honest eyes (not every single thing is perfect, or even better than US, I'm talking broad strokes), engage the people and hear their opinions (they will have many, because the US is still dear to a lot of people from Europe who would very much like to see US step up its game as a true world leader in all areas - everyone wants a role model, and it's sad to see the hero waste his life away).