I visited the USSR when I was 17. Unlike De Blah blah blah, I (a teenager from an affluent suburb) almost kissed the soil of the USA, upon return. Knowing this guy went there, and thought it was a great place, tells me all I need to know, about him, and it sure isn’t good. Keep in mind, they only let you see what was “approved”. I can’t even imagine what the rest of the country was like.
A visit to the USSR as a student inspired Iowa Senator Joni Ernst to take her first interest in politics and and to join the US military. She was shocked at the primitive state of the USSR.