Yeah, that's what all our starters began with, just whole wheat flour and water. We didn't use any of those pre-packaged starters (which I think are kind of a joke anyway). These starters are made from naturally occurring yeasts in the air.
I read an article recently where one sourdough baker travels around the world, and when he goes somewhere he takes a small batch of his starter with him. His intention isn't to bake with sourdough wherever he goes, but rather to expose his starter to different yeasts of different geographical areas. He'll take his starter out and set it outside somewhere in a different country and let it be exposed to the local airborne yeasts in that region.
I read an article recently where one sourdough baker travels around the world, and when he goes somewhere he takes a small batch of his starter with him. His intention isn't to bake with sourdough wherever he goes, but rather to expose his starter to different yeasts of different geographical areas. He'll take his starter out and set it outside somewhere in a different country and let it be exposed to the local airborne yeasts in that region.