To me, travelling is really life-changing when it teaches you about the world. To travel and not to learn about the diversity and problems that affect the world, is to not have travelled at all.

This is why  #3 on my list of best travel moments of 2014 goes to when I shared my orange juice with a Syrian refugee whom I met on the Galata bridge.

Short after arriving from the Bosphorus tour on a vapur (ferry) and discovering the strait from tip to tip, because it takes you from Eminönü to Anadolu Kavağı, a small town located near the mouth of the Black Sea, we decided to hang around in the neighbourhood and take a look at the Yeni Camii, the New Mosque, located right next to where you board the cruises.

I was quite thirsty, so I went for an orange juice.. I asked the street vendor for a portakal suyu, from the basic turkish I learned online and with a booklet before the trip. The moment I turned my head to take a look at the Galata bridge, I saw a little smiling face hiding behind the stairs through the ones you access the bridge.

I quickly took my camera and photographed the boy, who soon realised what I was doing. He ran down the stairs and playfully approached me while waving his little hands. The first things I noticed where his incredibly radiant smile and the fact that he was barefoot. Kutsi, the taxi driver who took us from the airport to the hotel, had already pointed out that the streets of the city were full of Syrian refugees, that represent a problem in the biggest turkish cities like Ankara and Istanbul.

I tried to utter a couple of words, but the only thing I was able to do when he looked at me in the eyes, was give him the orange juice and my half-empty bottle of water. His eyes lit up in a such a thankful way that I felt he hugged me without even touching me.

In his innocence, this kid was able to rejoice at a simple gesture. I could realise the magnitude of the problem that Syrian refugees go through not only in Turkey, but in all the other countries they've fled to because of the ongoing civil war in their country, the growing threat of ISIS and the violence.

I'll never forget this moment. Even those who are having a bad time and have no certainty of where they'll be tomorrow, can teach you to smile.
Smile so hard that no sorrow or problem can erase the joy and hope from your face.