Bowden was particularly enamoured with host Catriona Rowntree and decided, when she was only about 8 or 9, that she wanted to be just like her.

The aspiring TV star was so determined to emulate her idol that after finishing her studies at Fahan School in Hobart she headed to Melbourne to complete a journalism degree at Macleay College, the same school Rowntree studied at many years earlier.

Bowden is a familiar face to many Tasmanians, having worked on various tourism projects and ad campaigns, including for her family’s business Smitten Merino. She also runs luxury headwear business Mason Hats, and was awarded a Spirit of Tasmania Tourism and Hospitality Award at the Tasmanian Young Achiever Awards, in May last year, for her Take on Tassie online travel series.

But the 29-year-old says she is most excited about her new role as a co-host on national TV series Left Off The Map, which is her “dream job”.

The series, which is filmed in Tasmania, screens on weekdays on Network 10 at 3.30pm, with 65 episodes per season. Bowden was announced as co-host – alongside Tassie foodie and cooking guru Ben Milbourne – only a few weeks ago, stepping in to film episodes for the final weeks of season two, which have just finished airing on TV and can currently be seen on 10 Play online.

A third season of the popular food-meets-travel show looks set to go ahead, with Bowden excited to continue her role as co-host in the upcoming season.

“I love this sort of stuff, I love having the opportunity to get out there and explore Tassie and meet incredible people,’’ she says.

“And not only be able to do it, but to also show it off at the same time and share it with others. There are so many places to go … we still haven’t touched the surface.’’

Bowden has spent recent weeks travelling to various parts of Tasmania to film segments for the show and says she still can’t quite believe she has fulfilled her childhood goal of working as a television travel presenter.

“I watched Getaway and I watched Catriona Rowntree, she was an inspiration for me, I wanted to be her,’’ Bowden recalls.

“I’ve always loved talking, I’ve always been quite confident in front of the camera.’’

Bowden says completing a journalism degree cemented her passion for TV presenting but there has been a lot of hard work to get to the point she’s at now.

“I knew I loved (presenting) to bits but like anything, especially in this industry, things don’t happen overnight, you have to work and work and work – so hard,’’ she says,

“You have to prove yourself, and you definitely have to love it.’’

But she says all the hard work feels like it is finally paying off.

“Everyone who knows me is so excited for me because they know that this is something that I’ve always dreamt of doing, since I was a little girl,’’ Bowden says.

“Yes, my life dreams have come true … it is a very good feeling, to be able to say that.

“But honestly, there were times I thought ‘it’s never going to happen’.

“People think you’re lucky, or this and that.

“But there’s an awful lot of hard work and determination, an awful lot of doors being closed in your face and getting back up. You’ve got to have a thick skin and passion and determination. But there’s definitely a bit of luck involved as well.”

In 2020 Bowden decided that since her dream job hadn’t yet come her way, she needed to look at new ways to make it happen.

She had an idea for an online Take on Tassie video series, showcasing local tourism operators and encouraging Tasmanians to become tourists in their own backyards, which was particularly relevant after the coronavirus pandemic hit. So Bowden approached the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania and teamed up with the organisation, filming a series of short clips to promote Tasmania online.

Bowden fronted the camera as she indulged in High Cheese at Coal River Farm, took part in wine tasting at Frogmore Creek, relaxed by the fire at Prospect House, and chatted to chef Massimo Mele at Launceston’s Grain of the Silos restaurant.

She could also be seen ziplining through the tree canopy at Hollybank Wilderness Adventures, taking on the trails at Maydena Bike Park and meeting a range of animals at East Coast Nature World, in Bicheno, as well as visiting popular holiday hot spots such as Freycinet, Cradle Mountain and Stanley.

“It was a good stepping stone for me to be able to prove myself a bit,’ Bowden admits.

More recently, she contacted foodie Ben Milbourne, as she had been watching his TV series Left Off The Map with interest and was keen to get involved.

“I reached out to Ben and I said ‘I love what you’re doing and what I’m doing, how can we work together?’,’’ Bowden recalls.

Fortunately for her, Milbourne’s existing co-hosts – farmer Henry Terry and Stillwater owner Bianca Welsh – were stepping away due to other commitments, leaving an opening for a new travel presenter. And Bowden says it’s an “absolute honour’’ to be part of the show – which is produced by Simon Hamilton and his Spreyton-based company Cultivate Productions – and showcase Tasmania to Tasmanians and the rest of the nation.

“I’m just so proud to be a Tasmanian,’’ she says.

Bowden has been loving the chance to travel around the state and film – everything from sampling liquid gold at Blue Hills Honey, enjoying a paddock-to-plate experience at Guide Falls Farm and picking fruit at Hillwood Berry Farm to learning how cider is made at Bradys Lookout Cider, sampling micro herbs and edible flowers at Yorktown Organics and visiting Hinton Bay Kitchen cooking school.

Her enthusiasm is obvious as she speaks passionately about each place she has visited so far and the people she has met at each location.

Bowden laughs that the job is not as glamorous as many people might think.

“The reality is, it’s full on,’’ she says.

“I go away for a full week, you’re on the road, filming two to three segments a day. I do my own hair and makeup and get myself dressed and ready for the show … you should see the back of my car, it’s an SUV and it’s filled to the brim with clothes.

“I like to really know who I’m meeting and know about people before I get there. So there’s lots of driving, lots of research, lots of talking. I love the people I meet and I want to give them the best possible chance to promote their business.’’

As a small-business owner, who not only runs Mason Hats but is closely involved in the running of her family’s Smitten Merino business and can be found manning a stall at Salamanca Market every Saturday, Bowden feels an affinity with the people she interviews during her travels as she knows the challenges and realities of operating a small business.

“I know how hard it is,’’ she says of running a business, particularly in the wake of Covid.

“It’s a slog and it’s hard work, so having an opportunity to get your brand and your business out there is incredible. As I have owned businesses myself I can appreciate how hugely beneficial these shows are for locations and businesses. So it’s not just a great job but it is actually helping people. Especially in times like these.’’

Bowden says the hardest part is tearing herself away from each place she visits, as she’d love to stay and chat all day.

“I’m making so many friends,’’ Bowden enthuses.

“The amazing team I work with, we laugh so much, and they’ll say ‘Holly, can you please stop talking, we need to work here’.

“But it’s so cool, honestly, I feel like I’m making friends right across the state.’’

Originally from Western Australia, Bowden moved to Tasmania when she was 8, with her parents – Carl and Nicola Mason – and her sister Brooke (brother Daniel was born after the family had settled in Tasmania).

Bowden admits it was a stark lifestyle change – the family had previously lived “right in the city” at Fremantle, spending every weekend participating in surf lifesaving activities at nearby Port Beach. They were used to hot weather, they had a house with a pool and were “always outside”.

So moving to a far cooler climate came as quite a shock.

“We moved here and saw snow for the first time,’’ Bowden recalls.

“Then we said ‘let’s go to surf lifesaving’, like we’d always done, so we’d drive to Clifton Beach, and we thought ‘this is crazy’ because we had to wear a wetsuit in the water. Life was definitely a bit different.’’

But it was actually Tassie’s colder climate that sparked the family’s business venture.

Bowden and her sister suffered from eczema, made worse by having to wear multiple layers of clothing as they adjusted to living somewhere cooler. And her dad, a keen bushwalker, was struggling to find warm, breathable bushwalking attire.

Nicola, keen to find clothing that would better suit her family’s needs, developed an interest in superfine merino wool, which at that time was found mostly found in thermals. She realised it would be perfect in women’s fashion wear, and was even more excited to discover Tasmania produced some of the world’s finest merino wool.

Soon, Smitten Merino was born, with the business producing a wide range of men’s and women’s clothing and sleepwear in Tasmania, which is in high demand across the globe.

Bowden says moving to the other side of the country, where they were no longer surrounded by extended family and friends, made the five of them very close. And they spent a lot of time exploring the Tasmanian wilderness together.

“Dad was all about taking us on adventures,’’ Bowden laughs.

“We’d go bushwalking and because we lived at Sandy Bay we’d also walk the Truganini Track. We’d also go camping at Friendly Beaches.

“So we were still outdoors. It was just different (to living in WA).’’

She says running a business together, she and her parents are “incredibly close”. They often hang out together at the family shack at Bicheno. And Bowden lives in a house in Sandy Bay only a few doors down from her parents.

She and her husband Jaye Bowden previously renovated and sold homes in Lenah Valley and Dynnyrne, with the dynamic duo currently part-way through renovating their Sandy Bay home.

Jaye was playing for St Virgils in an Old Scholars football grand final against OHA in September last year when he ended up in hospital after suffering concussion in an on-field incident.

Bowden says following the head injury, Jaye could no longer work in front of a computer screen for long periods, so he left his job at Treasury and, at the age of 33, decided to retrain as an apprentice plumber.

“It was a massive change for him,’’ she says.

“But he’s loving it.’’

Bowden says the football incident and the resulting career change served as a reminder that we each have “one life, and a precious life’’.

It’s a sentiment she’s become all too aware of in recent years, as she watched her mum battle breast cancer.

“My whole family has been through a lot, my mum got cancer, and it was very scary and stressful,’’ Bowden recalls.

“But she’s five years clear now.’’

“We’re a very tight-knit family, especially as we’re working in a family business together and spending almost every day together. And your health really is everything.’’

Bowden says as well as making her appreciate her loved ones even more, her mum’s cancer journey has also made her more grateful for opportunities that come her way.

“It made me realise that I want to be living,’’ she says.

“We have one life and it has got to be lived. I want to surround myself with things that make me feel good, happy, excited.

“Time is precious, days are precious.

“I don’t want a job that’s just job. I want a lifestyle that I love, and I want to feel like I’m making a difference in my life and in other people’s lives.

“When you’ve had health scares like that it doesn’t go out of your head, every day is a blessing.

“My husband is probably sick of me saying ‘you have to take every opportunity’.

“But I’m not taking anything for granted … seeing how precious life is really makes you think.’’

Bowden recently returned from Melbourne Fashion Week which she says was “incredible”.

She is currently in the process of creating a Smitten Merino homewares range with her family.

Her hat business is “ticking along”, her house renovations are progressing well, she’s been trying her hand at ocean swimming and she’s also finding time to study law.

“I’m just doing that on the side with Swinburne,’’ Bowden explains.

“I don’t want to be lawyer, I just like using a part of my brain that I don’t usually use.

“I love learning, and I love the opportunity to study and I feel like it’s so useful for every part of life. I’m slowly ticking away, subject by subject, it’s just incredible, the things that you learn.

“The little thrills of writing essays and getting results back – it’s just a totally different element of life, I don’t think you ever stop learning.’’

I tell Bowden that I admire her energy. She admits her plate is pretty full.

“Sometimes I think I’m totally crazy, sometime I feel totally crazy,’’ Bowden laughs.

“But if you’re doing things you love and are interested in, then none of it feels like work. It just feels like you’re getting up each day and doing cool stuff.

“I love having a life that’s varied. I love dipping my toe in lots of different things.

“And I’ve never been happier. I’m so excited to get back on the road with the team (for season three of Left Off The Map) and promote this magnificent island which just keeps getting better and better. Wherever this (job) takes me, I want to go.’’•