AP is a specific description of OBE. An OBE is an Out of Body Experience, that could include Astral Projection, Near Death Experience, Shamanic Journeying, even Remote Viewing in a sense. An OBE is the act of projecting your consciousness away from your body, though that's kind of a "primitive" way to look at it because it assumes that your physical body is your primary mode of experiencing and all others are secondary. I think it might be more appropriate to say that your are shifting your scale and position to another perspective that you may equally inhabit.
It should be noted that Shamanic Journeying and Remote Viewing are often considered inner journeys because they are "imaginal". To that I would say, who decided that realms of the imagination aren't real? I can talk to my spirit guides and power animals in my realms of imagination, I can connect with my subconscious. How can anyone say that's any less real than me typing right now? Some even say that typical Astral Projection is an inner journey, that these realms are made from imagination. So what about the seemingly objective Astral Environments that contain whole civilizations, or ones where many different Earth-bound people can go and then come back and share the same experience? In this case, we could give credit to the collective unconscious. Different people can experience the same thing because that "place" exists within the unifying consciousness between all sentient beings existing in all of reality. I'm not saying that Astral Projection is one way or the other, but I think it's important to consider that even the events we call "inner" journeys are no less real that a trip to the 7-11, possibly much more.
Kurt, I would say that perhaps you are genuinely OBEing. Here's my theory:
The Astral Planes are different from the density levels because the APs represent the truly non-material. While the density levels above the 3rd appear immaterial to us because of our scale and position relative to their frequency, they are physical too when viewed from the perspective of their scale and position. Now that may mean something different to them because the way they perceive reality is most like much different from ours. We call the 3rd Density physical because of it's apparent solidity, but we all know that there isn't really anything solid about it (quantum physics, nothing but space in an atom). To us, energy that vibrates faster than the energy in our scale and position seems non-physical, and one might assume that beings in higher densities would perceive their indigenous density as "solid" and higher ones as "non-solid". The Astral Planes on the other hand are "inner realms". If such a thing as objectivity really exists then you would find it in the Density Levels, but the Astral is subjective, mind only. That's not to say that mind doesn't play a bigger role in densities higher than the 3rd though. So if one were journeying in the Astral then it would be an inner journey because they are realms of imagination. However, if one were journeying to different densities it would be a true Out of Body Journey because your body in the 3rd Density is left behind and you inhabit your "body" counterpart in the higher frequency densities. In the Astral there is no body involved, you are still with your physical body but you have unplugged from the sensory input of the 3rd Density and plugged into the sensory input of the collective unconscious of all beings. Density travel is like physical travel only instead of going to the next country, you are increasing the vibratory frequency of your energy body. Astral travel on the other hand is a 180 degree shift from receiving sensory input from a density level to a level of mind. This would explain why it may take an individual more energy reserves to reach a different density level than Astral realms. How much fuel does it take you to meditate versus powering a rocket ship to go to the moon? When you move to a different density you're altering the pattern of your energy body whereas in moving to the Astral you're altering the pattern of your consciousness. I think it would be safe to assume that you would be altering your consciousness patterns in density travel as well as the patterns of your energy bodies because while you could get there by raising the frequency of your energy body, you wouldn't be able to perceive the higher densities in any sort of meaningful way if your consciousness was still focused in 3rd Density perception.
Here's a diagram that may illustrate what I'm saying:
I agree that AP sounds cooler though, I just think that it's something that's taking place within the collective mind of all beings while the density travel is actual travel. Mind you, this is all just theory, I have no evidence to back it up. This is just me contemplating what I've experienced and a little bit of other theories mushed up into one idea. This may be totally wrong. But I think it makes sense. Especially with you talking about how much more energy it takes to get to the higher densities, and I think this is why. Plus, I have relatively little energy reserves compared to you for example, and my projections, which I think are to the astral, are always "colored" by my dreams and other imagined/mind experiences.
