Should I hope or let go?

Hi there!

I'd like to share my problem with you guys, maybe someone experienced something similar or has some helpful words for me.

I've met a guy in the middle of June, and we had some kind of connection from the beginning. So I did something very unusual for me and asked him if maybe he would like to grab a coffee sometime soon. He said yes, and we had a very nice afternoon. There were also some hints he might like me: once he looked at me and just at that moment I noticed that his pupils were dilating. He brushed through his hair pretty often, and we had a great conversation. While we were walking around, he suddenly turned his whole body towards me, in order to show me something by the wayside (what could this have meant??). In addition, he complimented my hair and made a (fond) joke about his own haircut. When I mentioned I have fear of flying and I'll maybe have to ask the passenger next to me to hold their hand he said "Maybe you'll be lucky and find a girl whose hand you can hold.", clearly stressing I could get to find a girl, NOT a guy, to hold hands with.

We had two more dates, both initiated by me. And there were more signals: At the 2nd date he paid for me and said he's sorry for not doing that on the 1st date.
20 min. before we were supposed to meet he texted me saying he'll be 10 min. late and gave me detailed infomation, like "I'll probably be there at [time]", "Leaving home now", etc. He mirrored many of my movements and sometimes played around with things on the table. In general he had a very open expression and always looked very handsome. He always gave me a hug in the beginning and in the end of each date, although he doesn't hug people often. Sometimes I also noticed his looks.

On the third date we didn't have that much time, and when asking to hang out I always added "Would you like to hang out again? But only if you'd really like to! " He said yes again, although he only had a time frame of 1 1/2 hours.
While walking around, our arms and once even our hands touched accidentally (or not accidentally?). He remembered literally everything I said: on the 1st date I told him I made it 22 days without coffee (I was addicted, haha). On the 3rd date this topic arose again, and I accidentally (really accidentally!) said a wrong number of days. Then he checked back and said "But last time you said 22 days!"

So many little things. So basically a good start.
But the thing is that I've left for a semester abroad a few days after our last date. I'm now at the other end of the world and I don't know if I'll return to the city I've lived in before.
At the end of our last date he said to me: "Let me give you a hug, and get in touch with me from [place of my semester abroad]."
So I sent him a message after arriving there, and we wrote back and forth a little. He mostly asked questions and I replied. Nothing big, but still something.

But what is letting me doubt is on the one hand of course the uncertainty, if we could continue after my semester abroad, and on the other hand the fact that he never contacted me on his own. I initiated all 3 dates, and I texted him after I arrived. But when I texted him he was always pretty quick and responsive.

I also don't know if our lives are compatible, we couldn't really find that out in this short period of time (although we talked a lot about life models and how we imagine the future).

On the other hand I just got so many positive signals from him, and I have the feeling we could've developed something if we've had more time. Or maybe it still can become something? I don't know, I'm just so confused right now.

Lately I wondered if maybe he was and is unsure how to act, because I was kinda in distress (you know what I mean - having only little time left in my home country, having to fit everything into my schedule before I leave, having to do a lot of organizational stuff, etc.)...and if he thinks I just "checked him out" before I leave...maybe he wanted to give me all the control because I was more stressed than him? At one point he said something like "2 weeks after your arrival you'll already forget everything you have now", in an undertone of sadness...or maybe he thinks he's out of my league somehow? Because he was very impressed about my life, and once he said something like his life isn't as awesome as mine...I don't know.

Should I wait and see if he will contact me at some point? Or should I write him again? (Didn't have contact since over a month)...


Thank you all in advance for taking your time, and have a good day or night, whenever you're reading this.