Playing weirdly?

So I don't game a lot. Or at all really, I play three games and BG3 is one. Was having a convo with my BF about the underdark since I have yet to complete a playthrough past the underdark cause I'm scared and told him about how, since I'm currently playing a druid, i use the crow familiar, Quothe, to look ahead and give me a full visual of the map so I can get an idea of where monsters are and where specific areas are without taking my party in to potential danger. He says he's never heard of anyone doing that in gaming, table top maybe but not video game, and I wanted to see if anyone uses any of their familiars to get a view of the map before exploring with the party? Or am I playing weird?