Your first year driving around in an RV can be so exciting. But when the fall rolls in and winter is on the horizon, you face a sometimes daunting task: putting the RV into storage. Proper RV storage is important to keep your vehicle in top shape through the cold and snowy weather, but you're sure to have a few questions as a first-timer. Discover some answers below.

1. Where can you store your RV?

There are a few options for winter RV storage. Some people buy their own ports, which are basically like large, sturdy tents that you park the RV underneath. This works okay, but it is expensive, and it does not offer complete protection from the elements. A far better and more common option is to rent space at an RV storage facility. Often, these facilities will have a bunch of separate RV storage units, each of which is designed to house a single RV. You pay by the month or by the season to lease the space, similarly to how you would pay to lease a standard storage unit.

2. What are the benefits of RV storage units?

When you rent an RV storage unit, your RV is actually inside — not just parked under some port. There's also surveillance, so you don't have to worry about someone stealing or vandalizing your RV. You don't have to drive or navigate around the RV as you would if it were on your own property, either.

3. How do you prepare your RV for storage?

There are two elements to storage preparation. First, you need to prep the RV's living quarters. Remove anything perishable, and make sure all of the cabinets are locked shut so that mice and other pests cannot find their way inside. Also, pull down the blinds and fold up any furniture.

Second, you need to prepare the engine. This means removing the battery, draining the gasoline or adding a fuel stabilizer, and changing the oil. Obviously you can't really do these things until you have driven your RV to the storage facility. To make things simple, many storage facilities do offer "engine prep" packages and services to their customers, so you can just park your RV and let a pro handle this part.

Storing an RV over the winter for the first time can seem intimidating, but if you rent from a good storage facility, it's actually quite simple.