hi mate. yes, shortly after my second sight (3rd eye) became active I started traveling in the astral without consciously trying or thinking about it (my higher-self was in charge but we worked together). the concept was foreign to me prior to this. not sure what the difference is between travel and projection. for me there is no astral body other than physical consciousness and it doesn't really leave the body, it ventures out staying connected. i was always aware of my body when traveling (in other words at any time i could instantly stop and sit up).

it has always felt amazing, never had one bad experience. initially there were two shadows on my left and right. didn't pay much attention to them and they didn't appear anymore after the third or fourth time. later i found out that they were just negative thought forms, mostly manifested from fear of the unknown and paranoia. if you know that evil spirits don't exist the negative thought-forms are very easy to deal with.. you will either face the energies and transmute them or sometimes ignoring them is enough.

the first 2 times i was in the mental realms, it was like earth but different. went to a few weird buildings and mountains. after that i went straight to the realm of singular spirits. i encountered many beings of different sizes and colors and was always traveling through space. most of them were gold. they were all full of positive energies. the last time i was lucky enough to get to the realm of universal spirits. it's the best memory i have in this current life. to get there had to go through the realm of singular spirits, traveled for a very long time and eventually a huge rainbow appeared. went through it and an amazing galaxy of purple stars appeared which i also went through and ended up in this really trippy space. 3 universal spirits appeared and it was one of the most amazing feelings imaginable. unconditional love/nirvana is pretty hard to beat but this had an extra element of warmth and divinity.

everyone is different but the purpose of my astral travels was to identify the realms of existence in the mental planes and the planes of form. also everytime you encounter beings you exchange energy and information, this is immediately available to your physical consciousness as well as your higher-self. it also gives you greater access to guides and allows you to call in guides for others.