In the sixties, millions of young North Americans spent their summers backpacking through Europe. They hitchhiked, rode the rails with their Eurail passes, and crashed in youth hostels. It was a time of taking in the sights, art, culture, foods and partying. Several months later, they returned home to the States and Canada--unless you were Paul Gorman.Written by Seattle Filmmaker/Writer Paul Gorman, “Into Trouble” chronicles his solo 1969 backpacking trip to Europe where, as a nineteen year old teenager, he was arrested in Franco’s Spain. At the time, Spain was regarded as one of the most Fascist countries since Nazi Germany, Faced with up to six years in famed Prisión de Barranco Seco, he is used as a pawn in political blackmail while struggling to survive a dangerous environment.
"On a cold and snowy day in January, 1969, I left home seeking adventure, dodging the draft, running from my father, and chasing after love," Gorman writes in his book.
Hitchhiking to Chicago, he experienced 120 mph car chases between ex-convicts and cops, becoming a fugitive. That was just a warmup.
After landing in Luxembourg, Gorman made his way to Spain. One of his stops was Barcelona, Spain, where he stayed approximately three weeks in a youth hostel. "Underlying all of this was Fascism," Gorman continued. "Nowhere in my travels in Spain was it more apparent than in Barcelona. Strangely, it added to the allure of the place. I was doing something frowned upon by “polite society”. But I never really analyzed it in those terms. It was just the cheap prices and sense of the place that appealed to me, as it did to the other backpackers I met in Barcelona. We were looking for adventure outside the mainstream. The Soviet Union was out of the question; they were the enemy, but Spain was also considered taboo, and the biggest sinner of all was Barcelona."
While staying in Barcelona, Gorman met another American who was on his way to the Canary Islands aboard a freighter that took about fifteen passengers. It was early March and colder than he expected, so Gorman opted to go with him. "I could use some sunshine and warmth and, from what he told me, the place was crawling with beautiful bikini-clad Swedish girls—even better. After a six-night voyage, we disembarked in Las Palmas, de Gran Canarias, Spain."
It wasn't long before Gorman met a young Canadian from Quebec, named Danny. The son of an ALCAN exec, he had a risky plan to defraud Iberia airlines. "I invested my last $20 and helped with his plan," Gorman said. The scheme worked and soon afterwards Danny left for Morocco. Meanwhile, Gorman resorted to another scam to pay his bills, but it caught up with him. "While my friends were still in high school, or college, less than a year after high school graduation, I was sitting in a jail cell 9,000 miles from home," Gorman added.
Asked why he wrote the book, Gorman said, "The experiences I had there are forever etched in my memory. It feels like they happened yesterday. I still can't believe I actually did the things I did. That’s why I had to write the book. I had to put it into a context that fit the person I’ve become. The experience changed my life for the better."
Gorman hopes his book will reconnect him with Danny, who he hasn't heard from since. "He had a broad nose, auburn hair ... and a white mustache," Gorman chuckled.
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