Brandon Trones was puzzled by the consumerism and materialism he feels is gripping America. So, he decided to go green by going guerilla—taking his camera into restricted areas and sacred sites in the lands of the Bible.

As producer and host of The Road Less Traveled: Hunger for the Holy Land, Trones documents his quest to visit 40 holy landmarks while fasting 40 days in hopes that his journey will inspire others to take their faith seriously and to reduce their consumption.

The impetus for Trones' quest began when he discovered some sobering statistics. "It's no mystery that the United States is statistically the fattest country on the planet," he explains. "We consume more resources that any other nation on the planet. Then I noticed another statistic—America has more churches than any country in the world."

For Trones, those stats represented a disconnect between what Christians believe and what they do. "The country that has the most churches is also taking the most from the rest of the world," he observes. "Something about that just didn't sit right with me. It was about time that we infused people and electrified their faith."

Sitting back and merely complaining about this problem was never an option. His inquisitive spirit compelled him to find a way to make a difference. Trones recalls, "I wanted to get people to see the reality of the historical facts of what they believe … and wake them up out of their slumber."

As the idea for a way to combat this problem emerged, his faith and love of history fell into the mix. "Ever since I picked up a Bible, I couldn't help but be interested in the Holy Land," Trones says. "It's where all the stories take place. It's the hub of holy activity for Jesus and the prophets. You want to see the place for yourself to get a concrete picture of what actually happened."
One day, Trones had an epiphany. The Bible, his love of history, and the problem of American consumerism intersected at an often misunderstood and neglected point—fasting. "I was reading about how Jesus was casting out a demon and he had a quote that said, ‘This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting,' and that scripture just really hit me," he explains. "Then I looked at today's Christians and realized that there is just no fasting. We don't fast anymore as a people."

Trones' training is in archeology. Because of his background, historical research and biblical study are two of his uniquely wedded passions. "I had been a Christian for some time and I'm a huge history buff. I was doing my own studies and could not for the life of me find another production that would feature these historical and biblical sites and show them for what they are. There was just a lack of material out there."