what does he want

I fell in love with a guy from a different country. We met 2 years ago when he moved to my country for work for 10 months. The first 4 months wwe got to know each other and we both liked and was attracted to each other. The next 6 months we hooked up and it was incredible the chemistry and connection we had. Sadly he had to return home and I knew it would be hard and it was. We kept in touch and after a couple of months I admitted to loving him and he said he felt the same, however he needed to rresettle and he could not consider a relationship as hr was busy with moving and traveling for his job and when he was settled he would know what he wanted. So I let it rest, still communicating but no I miss you or I love you. Several months down the road I was taking vacation and decided to visit a different country. I mementioned it to him and he said he told join me. I was shocked cause it would cost h a lot to make the three week trip. He showed up and we had a wonderful time together. That was a few months ago. He has recently become distant with me and I know he is losing interest bit I do love him and wanted to know what he truly felt for me. He said he did love me but time and distance it has faded. I told him thanks for his honesty and wished him all the best in life. He has since shocked my friend by contacting her and telling me to take care of me that I'm sad and he cares for me and doesn't want to hurt me but he cant give me anything in life. I have not made any further contact with him but he emails me as if nothing has happened and is telling me about his day etc. Why would he do this and what should I do?

It seems as if he's protecting himself with the emails that are sort of small talk. The shocking email to your friend about taking care of you says to me that he really cares about you, but is struggling with the idea that he still wants to travel and work. Saying that your love faded might not quite be what he meant, but it could be that he simply chose to put it in a lesser part of his mind for a while. He might not know how to make new arrangements for his kind of work if he did not travel so much. It could work if you joined him in the traveling - and you guys overcame the complications by choosing to continue to move, work, and live where you could both be at a time. Later on, if you decide to have a home to come back to, you do it together too. If you want to try and go through with that, I'd cut through the 'friendly, but I'm trying to do this so I don't show how much I care about you' emails and be like, 'Why can't we be together?' you could then discuss all the ins and outs of traveling, working and living together, wherever that may be. Hopefully, this helps and applies to your situation well.