The infamous backpacker burn is a large circular burn to the back of the inner right calf of your right leg, which then turns into a life long circular scar.

Many of you may have received it, many of you may have witnessed it and many of you wished you had of prepared for it. Rest assured, not everyone gets one, but I can safely say I travelled the whole of South East Asia aiming not to get one and I still did.

I was travelling half way through Vietnam when I spotted a lady hobbling alongside her husband with a huge bandage to her right calf. We all got chatting and she told us how she burnt her leg when stepping off of a motorcycle taxi. After viewing her raw, wounded flesh I opted out of ever getting on a motorbike taxi again, until I visited Hanoi and realised if I was ever going to make my next bus journey on time I had to hop onto the back of a motorbike.

There I was, hands tightly gripping the seat of my motorbike, skirt flapping in the air thanking the lord for looking after me as I was driven at top speed along a highway with no helmet. Thank full to be alive with all limbs in tack, we arrived safely at the bus station and I hopped off of the right side of the bike. It took half a second for me to feel instant pain as I realised I had now received the famous backpacker burn. Time however, I didn't have and I had to get on the bus as it left the station, with no water and my first aid kit tied to the top of the bus in my backpack. Eight hours later I managed to get some water to clean the burn before a blister rose and sagged off my leg like a breast implant for the rest of the 28 hour journey.

Three years on I now have a faint looking circular scar on my leg (all thanks to the miracle that is bio oil) but all you need to do to avoid this almighty scar is

1. Wear Jeans on a motorbike
2. Always get off on the left side
3. Alternatively never get on a bike at all!

Hoorah!