For Reimar Basaen, this Christmas feels different.
After years of working far from home, the 35-year-old food service manager finally returned to the Philippines — just in time for the holidays.
Basaen has been working in Laos for six years.
And on Christmas Eve, at around 4:45 p.m., he was set to land — hoping to beat the traffic and make it all the way home to Tarlac for Noche Buena.
It was a homecoming he planned quietly.
A surprise he carried for years.
Before leaving the country, Basaen worked as a restaurant manager at a fast-food chain in the Philippines.
But when a better offer came from abroad, the decision became practical.
The pay was higher.
The stability was better.
So he left.
Life in Laos, however, was far from easy at the start.
The country felt unfamiliar.
Public transportation was limited.
He even had to learn how to ride a motorcycle just to get around.
Language was another hurdle.
With fewer people speaking English, managing staff became a daily challenge.
Then came the pandemic.
Like many overseas Filipino workers, Basaen found himself stuck in a foreign land — afraid and uncertain.
“We were all afraid,” he said.
Being far from home during a global crisis took a heavy toll.
But support from his employer, and constant encouragement from his family, kept him going.
His last visit to the Philippines was in 2022.
Before that, he hadn’t been home since 2019.
Travel restrictions.
Work demands.
One Christmas after another spent away.
Even before becoming an OFW, his job often kept him from celebrating the holidays with family.
Since 2017, Christmas at home had become rare.
That’s why this return meant so much more.
His family didn’t know he was coming.
This time, the surprise was for his parents.
And after a failed attempt years ago, this homecoming finally felt right.
What he looked forward to wasn’t grand.
Just time.
Just presence.
Just being with the people he loved.
From afar, he had watched his parents grow older.
His nieces and nephews grow up.
Even the neighborhood change.
That distance made one thing clear —
coming home was long overdue.
Working abroad came with sacrifices.
And the hardest one was always the same: being away from family.
There were moments when he thought of giving up.
Many times.
But necessity kept him going — for his future, and for the people depending on him.
Over the years, his idea of “home” changed.
“Home is where I find peace,” he said.
It stopped being about a place — and became about people, quiet moments, and calm, wherever he could find them.
Now, even if only for a short while, he values the small things more.
Shared meals.
Conversations.
Time that can’t be replaced.
For Filipinos who couldn’t come home this Christmas, Basaen had a simple message:
you can still find home — in friends, and in people who care about you.
After the holidays, he will return abroad.
Adjusting back to life in the Philippines, he admits, would still be difficult.
For now, working overseas remains part of his journey.
But this Christmas, Reimar Basaen is home.
And for him, that is enough.
