Some wanted an update on this, so here it is!
During my time away I vaguely told him I’d be back by mid August, so even though I stopped speaking to him and didn’t tell him when I landed, he ended up initiating contact anyway around 15th August.
We had a good chat that night, and it looks like he wants to see me again. I’m quite happy for him to continue initiating at this point and will not focus so much on him. Either way, it’s nice to know that him fading out when I was away wasn’t necessarily a sign of ghosting in this case.
Thanks for keeping me sane, girls!