A week from today a huge sport event will be starting in South Africa: the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Thirty-two teams, representing nations from all continents will compete to become the world champion of football. The championship will last about a month and the games will be watched by millions of people worldwide, since it has the record of being the most watched sporting event in the world, even over the Olympic Games.

I got curious to learn if HomeForHome had listings from all the participating countries. What do you think? Will you venture a guess?

Here goes what I found:

1. Spain: 5118
2. France: 4032
3. Italy: 1764
4. England: 621
5. Germany: 542
6. United States: 480
7. Australia: 110
8. Argentina: 101
9. Switzerland: 64
10. Mexico: 48
11. Portugal: 48
12. Brazil: 27
13. Chile: 25
14. Netherlands: 20
15. Algeria: 18
16. Uruguay: 9
17. Denmark: 7
18. New Zealand: 7
19. Greece: 5
20. Paraguay: 3
21. Serbia: 3
22. Cote d’Ivore: 2
23. Japan: 2
24. South Africa: 1
25. South Korea: 1
26. Honduras: 1
27. Slovakia: 1
28. Cameroon: 0
29. Ghana: 0
30. Nigeria: 0
31: North Korea: 0
32: Slovenia: 0

Almost! Only but a few of the countries that qualified to the final round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup do not have someone willing to do home exchange through HomeForHome.

Now, Spain took the lead a long time ago in the number registered swappers, do you think HomeForHome will bring Spaniards luck in the football field? Since they are among the favourites, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Depending on the time of retirement, sometimes it can be difficult to maintain the speed and activity of your social life. If you are amongst the first of your friends to retire, it can feel a little isolating.

Conversely, finding the pace and rhythm of life that suits you the best can often be trying. It can be question of getting around to doing those things that you never had time to do during your working life. Or it can involve enjoying your interests, pursuing leisure or educational pursuits.

Getting involved in new communities and making new friends who are at a similar stage of life is also important. As is travelling. As a home-exchanger, one of the fruits of the process is that you come across a rich variety of people from all walks of life. But as a retired person, it can also be a way of finding new friends within the retirement community, across the globe.

Not only will fellow retired exchangers have the same time flexibility as you, but they will also be able to take longer exchanges. This can easily result in a close and worth-while friendship.

It can also be a way to aid with other common retirement goals. Study of a foreign language, architecture, history, sports, writing, or photography for example. Overseas travel can aid all of these activities by providing ample space and opportunity to develop new skills, draw inspiration, and find new subject matter.

Friendship and personal development are very important concepts throughout the whole of life, but in retirement specifically. Home exchange is a great way to expand upon these within a friendly and worldwide community.